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LIFE   NOTES 


FIFTY  YEARS'   OUTLOOK 


BY 


WILLIAM    HAGUE    D.D. 


BOSTON  _^ 
LEE    AND  ]  SH^PAftt) .  l^UJSLISHERS 

lO  MILK  STREET  NEXT  OLD  SOUTH  MEETING-HOUSE 

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Copyright,  1887, 
By   lee  and  SHEPARD. 

Ali  rights  reserved. 


PUBLISHERS'  NOTE. 


The  eminent  author  of  this  volume  closed  siiddenh^ 
his  earthly  life  almost  immediately  after  he  liad  exam- 
ined the  last  pages  of  the  appendices  of  this  book.  On 
Saturday,  the  Soth  of  July,  1887,  Rev.  Dr.  Hague 
sent  by  the  mail,  to  the  publishers,  the  last  "proof' 
pages  of  this  work,  which  he  had  examined  that  morn- 
ing at  his  residence  in  Cambridge,  Mass.  He  had 
written  his  final  word,  and  had  made  his  last  revision. 
On  the  Monday  following  he  visited  Boston,  and  was 
on  his  way  to  exchange  congratulations  with  his  pub- 
lishers on  the  happy  conclusion  of  his  literary  labors 
by  the  successful  completion  of  his  "Life  Notes;  or, 
Fifty  Years'  Outlook,"  when  he  was  stricken  with 
apoplexv  while  walking  on  Tremont  Street,  and  would 
have  fallen  to  the  pavement  but  for  the  timely  assist- 
ance of  friends.  He  died  soon  after,  in  the  entrance 
to  Tremont  Temple,  near  the  place  where  much  of  his 
life-work  had  been  done. 

Dr.  Hague  was  born  in  Westchester  County,  N.Y., 
Jan.  4,  1808,  and  was  a  graduate  of  Hamilton  Col- 
lege, New  York,  in  the  class  of  1826.  He  took  his 
theological  course  at  the  Newton  Institute,  graduating 
in  1829.  He  was  ordained  Oct.  20,  1829,  as  pastor  of 
the  Second  Baptist  Church  in  Utica,  N.Y.  There  he 
remained  until  called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  First 
Church  in  Boston  :  his  installation  took  place  Feb.  3, 
1831,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wayland  preaching  the  sermon.  In 
June,  1837,  he  entered  upon  his  duties  as  pastor  of 
the  First  Church  in  Providence,  over  wliich  he  was  in- 
stalled July  12,  1837,  the  sermon  being  preached  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Barnas  Sears.  The  church  commemo- 
rated while  he  was  pastor  the  second  century  of  its 
foundation.  Nov.  7,  1839,  and  he  preaclied  an  histori- 
cal discourse  on  the  occasion,  which  was   published. 


iv  rUPLTSHERS'   NOTE. 

During  nine  months  of  the  j^ear  1838-39  be  was  abroad. 
Sept.  20,  1840,  in  the  Federal-street  Church,  Boston,  he 
commenced  his  hibors.  His  subsequent  pastorates  have 
been  in  Jamaica  Plain,  Mass.,  Newark,  N.J.,  Albany, 
N.Y.,  New- York  City,  Boston,  Chicago,  and  Orange, 
N.J.  He  was  senior  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  at 
Wollaston  Heights,  Mass.,  at  the  time  of  his  death. 
Dr.  Hague  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity 
from  Brown  University  in  1849,  and  from  Harvard 
College  in  1863.  He  was  chosen  a  trustee  of  Brown 
University  in  1837.  Among  the  many  productions  of 
his  pen  were,  "The  Baptist  Church  Transplanted  from 
the  Old  World  to  the  New,"  "Guide  to  Conversation 
on  the  Gospel  of  John,""  Review  of  Drs.  Fuller  and 
Wajdand  on  Slavery,"  "  Christianity  and  Statesman- 
ship," "Home-Life,"  "Emerson,"  etc. 

Dr.  Hague  was  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  life,  which 
had  been  marked  especially  by  ministerial,  literary,  edu- 
cational, and  philanthropic  achievement.  He  was  a 
scholar  in  a  broad  sense,  and  his  acquirements  and 
abilities  were  of  the  highest  order.  He  was  a  clergy- 
man of  profound  religious  convictions  and  of  rare 
persuasive  eloquence.  He  gave  character  to  all  his 
endeavors,  and  embellished  every  occasion  with  which 
he  was  associated.  His  aid  to  educational  and  to 
philanthropic  institutions  and  causes  is  of  permanent 
value.  His  writings  will  have  a  lasting  and  important 
place  in  history ;  and  this  book,  intended  to  be  auto- 
t)iographical  to  a  considerable  extent,  will  be  found  to 
contain  the  rich  personal  reminiscences  of  a  noble  life 
filled  with  great  deeds,  and  consecrated  to  all  that  is 
uplifting,  —  a  life  of  love,  of  sincerity,  and  of  truth. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Old  Pelham  and  New  Rochelle 1 

Revisitations.  —  Strength  of  Child  Memory.  —  Union  of 
Saxon  and  Celtic  Elements.  —  The  French  Exile's 
Inquiry,  What  were  this  Young  Lord's  Anteced- 
ents?—The  Education  of  the  Manorial  Heir  quite 
Noteworthy.  — A  Memory  of  Huguenot  Womanhood. 
—  A  Young  Huguenot  of  New  Rochelle  becomes  rec- 
ognized as  Chief  Citizen  of  Boston.  —  The  City  Cele- 
bration, Boston,  July  4,  1843,  in  this  Connection, 
exceptionally  Interesting.  — Henderson's  Island  and 
its  Home-Library  a  Century  ago.  — The  New  Distinc- 
tion: Hunter's  Island  and  its  Art-Gallery.  —  Epi- 
sodes of  our  Pelham  Home-Talks.  —  Starting-Point 
of  New  Ecclesiastical  Controversy  in  the  Experience 
of  Mrs.  Ann  Eliza  Bayley  Seton.  — Issues  of  the 
Manorial  History. 

II. 

School-Life  in  Old  New  York 37 

Child  Schooling.  —  Spirit  of  the  Time  specially  Educa- 
tional.—Our  Neighborhood:  Church  and  School.— 
Primary  Lessons. 

III. 

Academic  Life  in  Old  New  York 44 

Boyhood  Schooling.  —The  School  and  its  Master.  —Rev. 
Dr.  William  R.  Williams's  School-Days.  —  His  Pro- 
fessional Career.  —  Robert  and  William  Kelly,  Broth- 
ers. —  Ideals  of  Culture  realized  practically. 

V 


VI  CONTENTS. 

IV. 

PAGE 

Educational  Period 55 

School-life  Surroundings.  —  Literary  Spirit  of  the  Period. 
—  Educational  Leaders.  —  Samuel  L,  Mitchell,  LL.D. ; 
Daniel  n.  Barnes,  LL.D.;  Dr.  Griscom.  —  Historical 
Development  of  the  Church  in  our  School  Vicinity. 


A  Youxo  Student's  Laipressions  of  Col.  Aaron  Burr  .  65 
The  Questionings  as  to  his  Alleged  Personal  Power.— 
Where  lay  the  Secret  of  that  Power?  —  Temporary 
Realization  of  Ideal  Heroism, —  The  Tested  Friend- 
ship.—  Limitation  of  Ethics  and  -Esthetics  as  to 
the  Issues  of  Life. 

VI. 

Educational  Period 88 

Critical  Point  of  an  Educational  Course.  —  Interval 
between  Academy  and  College.  —  The  Farm,  the 
Church,  The  Preacher  and  his  Sermon.  —  Travelling 
Abroad  regarded  as  Educational. 

VII. 
Educational  Period  Continued 98 

College-Life. — The  Educational  Trend  Westward. — 
Historical  View-Point  as  to  Relations  of  Old  and 
New  New  York.  —  Introduction  to  College-Life.  — 
Intellectual  and  Social  Atmosphere.  —  Oxonian  and 
Hamiltouiau  Kecognitions. 

VIU. 
Theological-Seminary  Lite Ill 

Post-graduate  Bewilderments. —  The  Uplifting  Aiui. — 
Ideal  Superiority  to  all  Denominational  Orgaui.sms. 
—  Real  Significance  of  the  "  Ecclesia"  recognized. — 
Student-Life  at  Princeton  Theological  Seminary 
Sixty  Years  since.  —  Transfer  of  Student  Relation- 
ship to  Newton  Theological  Seminary. 


CONTENTS,  VU 

IX. 

PAGE 

The  Wide  World  Field 124 

First  Call  to  the  Pc'storate. — First  Acquaintance  with 
President  Wayland.  —  Cliaracterization  of  the  Church 
in  Utica. — The  New  Yorlc  "Baptist  Register"  an 
Educator  and  Unifier  of  a  "  People." —Hon.  Alex- 
ander M.  Beebe,  LL.D.—  Early  Ministry  in  Utica. — 
Only  One  Sorrow:  Climatic  Interference. 

X. 

Old  Boston      . 136 

Transition  Period.  —  Persistency  of  the  Old  Past.  —  Rev. 
John  Codman,  D.D.,  of  Dorchester,  Exponent  of 
Evangelical  Congregationalism.  —  New  Era  of  Re- 
vivalism ;  Rev.  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher.  —  Special  Rela- 
tion of  the  Baptists  to  that  Era.  —  Relative  Position 
of  the  First  Church.  —The  Representative  Sexton. 

XL 

Garrison  and  Thompson 147 

The  Receding  and  the  Rising  Question  of  the  Transition 
Period.  —  Point  of  Party  Division  in  Relation  to  the 
New  Question.  —  Relative  Position  and  Power  of 
William  Lloyd  Garrison.  — Our  Prompt  Reception 
of  Hon.  George  Thompson  on  the  First  Week  of  his 
Arrival. 

XII. 
The  Transition  Period 157 

Several  Names  signalizing  the  Transition  Period.  —  Dan- 
iel Webster  as  a  Statesman  Educator,  preparing  the 
Nation's  Way.  —  William  Lloyd  Garrison  a  Maker  of 
History.  —  Wendell  Phillips,  Representative  Orator 
and  Scholar.  —  Charles  Sumner  and  his  Surroundings. 
—  George  S.  Hillard,  the  Conservative.  —  Noteworthy 
Moods  of  Mind. —  A  New  Era  of  Christian  Home- 
work. 


viil  CONTENTS. 

xiii.                                            page 
The  Era  of  Mysticism 170 

First  Meeting  with  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  my  Nearest 
Clerical  Neighbor.  —  First  Impressions  of  his  Per- 
sonality. —  His  Mental  Unrest  as  to  Church  Organism. 

—  His  New  Position  curiously  Interesting.  —  Tenta- 
tive Steps  to  his  New  Career.  —  General  Re-union  in 
Providence,  R.I.,  in  Association  with  Margaret  Ful- 
ler.—Era  of  "the  New  Pulpit." —  Transcendental 
Enthusiasm  and  "  The  Dial."  —  Half  a  Lifetime  "  at 
his  Best."— Free  Play  of  Conflicting  Judgments  in 
England.  —  The  Central  Idea  of  this  Mystic  School 
characterized  as  Anti-Christian.  —  Downward  Trend 
of  the  (so-called)  Greek  School.  —  Forecasting  of  Ulti- 
mate Issues. 

XIV. 

Eka  of  Historical  Enthusiasm 197 

The  Spirit  of  Rhode  Island  History.  —  Progressive  Criti- 
cism. Distinction  of  Roger  Williams  in  World  His- 
tory. —  Judge  Story's  Centennial  Discourse  in  Salem. 

—  Lyceum  Discourse  of  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  W.  Upham 
in  Boston ;  the  Pastor  of  the  Old  First  Church  of  Salem 
voices  the  Sentiment  of  Salem.  —  Professor  James  D. 
Knowles's  Life  of  Roger  Williams  welcomed;  also 
that  of  Professor  William  Garamell,  LL.D.,  and  that 
of  Professor  Romeo  Elton,  D.D.  —Kindred  Tastes  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Stow.  — Historic  Sense  of  Rev.  Dr.  RoUin 
H.  Neale.  —  Special  Appeal  for  its  Culture. 

XV. 

Aspects  of  Rhode  Island  Life 209 

Question  of  Removal  from  Boston  to  Providence.  — 
Subtle  Workings  of  Historical  Associations.  —  A 
Church  Retrospect  of  Two  Centuries  or  more,  and  its 
Appeal.  —  Brown  University  under  President  Way- 
land. —  He  becomes  "Master  of  the  Situation."  — 
Greeting  of  his  Moral  Philosophy  by  John  Foster, 
"the  Essayist."  — Foster's  Interest  in  Rhode  Island 


CONTENTS.  IX 

PAGE 

History. —  Visit  to  John  Foster  at  his  Home  in  Bris- 
tol. —  Samuel  G.  Arnold,  then  intending  to  write 
the  History  of  Rhode  Island,  appreciates  the  Oppor- 
tunity.—The  Colonial  Families  "a  Living  Pres- 
ence."—  Suggestions  of  Likes  and  Contrasts  in  the 
Comparison  of  Margaret  Fuller  and  Charles  Kings- 
ley's  "  Hypatia."  —  Social  Atmosphere  of  Providence. 

XVI. 

A  Time  of  Organic  Recoxstructioxs 223 

An  Appeal  to  return  to  Boston  for  a  Second  Term  of 
Ministry.  —  Special  Needs  of  the  Federal-street 
Church.— A  Defined  Aim  asserts  itself  as  Motive- 
Power.  —  Characterization  of  the  Time:  an  Era  of 
Intellectual  Awakening.  —  An  Exceptional  Mood  of 
the  Public  Mind.  —  Diffusion  of  the  Spirit  of  Inquiry. 

XVII. 
The  Area  of  Discussion  Widenixg 232 

Conciliation  of  Beliefs  the  Special  Aim  of  Rev.  Dr.  James 
Freeman  Clarke. —A  Basis  sought  for  Faith  and 
Unity.  —  To  this  End  "  The  Church  of  the  Disciples  " 
organized. —An  Effort  to  realize  a  Higher  Ideal  of 
Church-Life. —Unifying  the  Elements  of  Progress 
and  Conservatism.  —  Counter  Driftings  to  New  Issues. 
—  From  our  Home-Fields  of  Evangelical  Work  En- 
during Fruitage  reaped. —  A  Spiritual  Uplifting.  — 
«*The  Word  itself"  the  Main  Factor. —  "  Building 
better  than  we  knew." 

XVIII. 

Strength  from  Unification 244 

Editorship  offered;  accepted. —  The  Work  of  the  Pul- 
pit and  Press  united. —  Home  and  Church  Life  at 
Jamaica  Plain. —  "An  Eden  of  a  Place." —A  Call 
for  Help  from  Newark,  N.J.  —  The  Occasion  of  a 
Conference  with  Rev.  Daniel  Sharp,  D.D.  —  Signifi- 
cance of  the  Situation.  —  Call  to  the  New  Church 
accepted.  —  Auspicious  Beginnings. 


X  CONTENTS. 

XIX. 

PAGE 

Principles  of  Church-Growth 253 

Era  of  Church-Extension  in  Newark.  —  The  Election  of 
Dr.  Henry  C.  Fish.  —  The  First  Unified  Movement.  — 
Encouraging  Success  reported.  —  Memorable  Career 
of  Rev.  Dr.  Fish.  —  Retrospective  View  of  Newark. 

XX. 

Elements  of  Thrift  and  Growth 262 

Early  Memories  of  Albany.  — Ministerial  Career  of  Rev. 
Dr.  B.  T.  Welch  in  that  Capital.— Our  Progres- 
sive Church- Work.  —  Chapels  and  Self-supporting 
Churches  springing  up.  —  Sabbath-morning  Offer- 
ings. —  Development  of  Public  Spirit.  —  Characteri- 
zation of  Albany  as  an  Historic  Community.  —  Our 
Veteran  Contemporaries.  —  Impressive  Personality 
of  Rev.  Eliphalet  Nott,  D.D.,  President  of  Union 
College.  —  His  Relation  to  Albany.  —  His  Presence  at 
the  Funeral  of  Ex-Secretary  Marcy. 

XXI. 

Studying  the  Signs  of  the  Times 274 

From  the  Capital  to  the  Metropolis.  —  A  new  Church- 
Home  in  the  Upper  Part  of  New  York,  architectu- 
rall}^  harmonizing  with  its  Surroundings,  the  Prime 
Objective  Point  in  the  Series  of  Things  to  be  done. 
—  Onward  from  Small  Beginnings.  —  Discourse  of 
Dedication,  Jan.  6,  18G1.  —  The  Era  of  Bewilderment 
inaugurated  by  the  War. —  No  Financial  Currency 
better  than  Postal-Stami^s.  —  No  Grounds  of  Calcu- 
lation for  the  INIorrow.  —  The  First  Proposal  of  Union 
as  a  means  of  Strength.  —  The  Organic  Union  with 
"Old  Oliver-street."  —  Starting-Point  of  the  Union 
Movement. — End  of  the  Union,  1881,  by  Separation 
upon  Accepted  Terms.  —  "  Unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
Bond  of  Peace." 


COXTENTS  XI 

Our  Epilogue  with  its  Episodes 201 

Primary  Purpose  of  the  "  Life  Notes."  —Oalled  back  to 
Fields  of  Former  Service  for  tlie  Country  and  the 
Cliurch.  —  Regular  Pen-Work  during  the  War.  —  Rev. 
Daniel  Sharp,  D.D.,  as  Representative  of  his  Genera- 
tion.—The  Birtli-Year  of  Vassar  College  within  the 
Period  of  my  New  York  Ministry.  —  Its  Example 
recognized  as  an  Inspiring  Power  by  the  Founder  of 
Holloway  College  for  the  Higher  Education  of  Young 
Women  in  England.  —  A  Company  of  Educators  in 
England  responsive  to  the  Sentiment.  —  Private 
Conference  requested.  — Organization  considered.— 
Offer  of  a  "  Trusteeship  "  to  Dean  Stanley.  —  Letter 
from  Mr.  Holloway  indicating  his  Intention  of  Com- 
plete Endowment. —Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes's 
Chronology  reviewed.  —  Claiming  too  much  for  Emer- 
son.—The  Reviewing  Editor's  Surprise  widely 
shared.  —  Mystification  as  to  Accounting  for  Over- 
sights. —  An  Unnoticed  Unification  of  Aftinities  and 
Forces.  —  Historic  Associations  awakened  at  "the 
Old  Corner  Book-Store."  — Insignificance  of  "Im- 
pressions "  as  to  timing  One's  Life- Work. 

APPENDICES 327 

I.  Hon.  John  M.  S.  Williams.  —  II.  Rev.  James  Free- 
man Clarke,  D.D.  —  III.  Rev.  Dr.  John  Overton 
Choules.  — IV.  Archbishop  Bayley.  — V.  A  Confer- 
ence In  Audover  Fifty  Years  ago.  — VI.  Controver- 
sies and  their  Fruitage.— VII.  Baptist  Theological 
Seminaries.  —  VIII.  Cambridge  Co-workers.  —  IX. 
Historic  Sense  of  Rhode  Islanders. 


LIFE    E'OTES. 


I. 

OLD  PELHAM  AND  NEW  EOCHELLE. 
PtEVISITATIONS. 

It  was  my  fortune  to  revisit  recently,  after  a 
long  interval  of  absence,  two  homes  of  my  child- 
hood,—  the  birth-home  at  Pelham,  Westchester 
County,  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York ;  and  the 
church-home  at  New  Rochelle,  the  town  adjoin- 
ing, originally  a  part  of  Pelham,  comprised  within 
the  area  of  the  manor  by  the  royal  charter  of 
1666,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  That  charter 
was  granted  to  Thomas  Pell,  Esq.,  "gentleman  of 
the  bed-chamber  to  King  Charles  L,"  and  after- 
ward, in  1687,  was  granted  anew,  and  confirmed 
to  his  legally  recognized  heir,  the  only  son  of  his 
brother,  the  first  resident  proprietor,  "  Lord  John 
Pell,"  according  to  the  usage  of  address  here- 
abouts in  the  seventeenth  century. 

The  first  object  of  interest  that  won  attention 


2  LIFE   NOTES. 

within  view  from  the  railway  station,  two  or  three 
minutes'  walk  westward  along  the  old  historic 
"  King's  highway,"  was  the  beautiful  church  edi- 
fice of  stone,  designated  "  Trinity  Church  of  New 
Rochelle ; "  presenting  itself  to  the  eye  of  the  in- 
quiring visitor  as  the  successor  of  the  old  "  French 
church,"  that  hallowed  that  surrounding  in  the 
reign  of  Queen  Anne.  Having  noticed,  in  a 
musing  mood,  the  contrast  between  the  showing 
of  the  rude,  small,  stony  structure  that  I  had  first 
known  in  childhood  as  a  house  of  worship  and 
that  of  the  finely  proportioned  modern  temple 
whose  graceful  spire  now  casts  its  shadow  over 
the  old  site,  I  turned  my  steps  toward  the  church 
burial-ground,  seeking  the  graves  of  my  grand- 
parents. Long-slumbering  memories  were  aroused, 
first  of  all,  by  the  sight  of  the  marble  that  marked 
the  grave  of  my  grandmother,  —  Sarah  Pell,  widow 
of  Capt.  William  Bayley, — whose  funeral  service, 
ministered  in  the  churchyard  by  her  aged  relative, 
the  rector.  Rev.  Theodosius  Bartow,  I  had  attended 
with  a  large  family  gathering  in  the  month  of 
March,  1819,  being  then  eleven  years  of  age.  The 
form  of  the  venerable  clergyman  in  his  official 
robes  at  the  grave,  his  bald  head  uncovered, 
despite  the  chill  of  a  heavy  snowfall,  is  vividly 
remembered  now,  as  if  it  had  figured  in  a  scene 
of  yesterday. 


OLD  PELHAM  AND   NEW  ROCHELLE. 


STEENGTH  OF  CHILD  ]VIE:M0RY. 

Meanwhile,  however,  memory  had  let  slip  the 
date  of  my  grandfather's  departure,  and  I  was 
desirous  to  regain  it  from  the  chiselled  record 
at  the  head  of  the  grave  nearly  adjoining.  What 
a  bewilderment !  I  could  scarcely  believe  my  eyes 
as  I  read,  ''Died  March  3,  1811."  It  seemed  al- 
together abnormal  that  such  minute  remembrances 
of  him  as  had  been  familiar  to  me,  scores  of  par- 
ticulars pertaining  to  his  individuality,  even  the 
tones  of  his  voice,  and  his  handicraft  in  making 
toys  for  my  amusement,  should  have  been  thus 
long  kept  within  the  brain  as  in  a  photographic 
or  phonographic  cabinet.  Yet,  thus  it  must  have 
been,  despite  all  seemings  to  the  contrary,  I  said, 
soliloquizing  in  the  presence  of  the  facts :  At 
the  age  of  three  and  a  half,  hereabouts,  began  my 
outlook  upon  the  world.  Here  I  approximate  the 
starting-point  of  conscious  thought ;  and  this  out- 
look over  the  life  area  of  "  threescore  and  ten  " 
discloses  its  varied  scenes  of  light  and  shadow, 
from  infancy  to  age,  as  one  broad  panoramic 
unity. 

Child  memories,  no  doubt,  are  effective  factors 
in  shaping  "  the  make-up "  of  any  personality. 
The  image  of  my  grandfather,  associated  as  it  is 
with  the  old  homestead,  and  with  his  flow  of  talk 


4  ■  TJFE  NOTES. 

while  occupying  his  easy-chair  upon  the  piazza, 
where  he  was  wont  to  enjoy  one  of  the  finest 
of  Landscapes,  taking  within  its  scope  Hunter's 
Island,  Pelham  Creek,  the  expanse  of  Long  Island 
Sound,  has  never  become  dim  ;  so  that  he  has 
ever  represented  to  me  the  ideal  grandpa  of  poetry 
or  song,  of  fiction  or  graphic  art,  as  pictured  by 
Sir  Walter  Scott  or  "  Peter  Parley."  Thus  has 
he  ever  been  to  me  in  thought  "a  living  pres- 
ence," although  the  obtruding  question  as  to  the 
possibilities  of  a  baby  brain  will  put  itself  over 
and  over  again  like  a  mocking  puzzle. 

Despite  the  puzzle,  the  fact  asserts  itself.  From 
the  view-point  occupied  at  the  time  of  this  writ- 
ing, March,  1882,  looking  back  to  the  last  sickness 
and  to  the  funeral  services  at  Pelham  and  New 
Rochelle,  the  succession  of  years  and  order  of 
events  are  clearly  traced  by  memory,  and  sub- 
stantiated as  a  personal  history.  There  is  no 
break  in  the  outline,  although  many  things  — 
thoughts,  words,  deeds  —  may  be  missed  from 
"  the  filling-up." 

UNION  OF   SAXON  AND  CELTIC   ELEMENTS. 

But  now,  while  occupying  the  old  churchyard 
as  a  retrospective  view-point,  it  seems  noteworthy 
that  this  first  advent  of  death  into  the  household, 
and  this  first  funeral  that  shadowed  the  path  of 


OLD   PELHAM  AND   NEW  ROCIIELLE.  5 

my  young  life,  cannot  be  described  without  the 
joining  of  two  okl  town  names,  French  and  Eng- 
lish,—  New  Rochelle  and  Pelham.  Thus,  too, 
looking  upon  the  headstones  that  memorialize  the 
many  graves  in  this  "God's  acre,"  as  the  Old 
English  called  the  consecrated  burial-ground,  we 
notice  the  alternations  or  intermingling  of  Eng- 
lish and  French  surnames,  denoting  the  -  quick 
fusion  of  English  and  French  blood  in  the  homes 
of  the  early  settlers  nearly  two  centuries  ago. 
On  the  tombstones  of  the  dead  and  on  the  door- 
signs  of  the  living  the  same  old  names  present 
themselves,  —  the  Pells,  Bayleys,  Bartows,  Pinck- 
neys.  Sands,  Hunts,  Guions,  Le  Counts,  Allaires, 
Leroys,  Coutants,  Secors,  Badeaus,  Flandreaus,  De 
Pej-sters,  De  Lanceys,  and  others,  —  signalizing  the 
spontaneous  union  of  Saxon  and  Celtic  elements 
in  the  historic  home-life  and  church-life  of  the 
Colonial  days. 

These  first  exiles  from  France,  seeking  perma- 
nent homes  and  religious  liberty,  thougli  to  a 
great  extent  "spoiled  of  their  goods,"  realized  act- 
ually the  sentiment  so  well  emphasized  by  Daniel 
Webster  in  addressing  young  Americans,  namely, 
"  Character  is  capital ;  "  being,  in  the  best  sense, 
"well  to  do,"  free,  and  inclined  to  contract 
family  alliances  from  choice,  taste,  and  personal 
qualities,  rather  than  from  considerations  of  mere 


6  LIFE  NOTES. 

expediency  or  goading  necessity.  Few  and  weak 
thongli  they  seemed,  their  phice  in  history  is  as 
clearly  defined  as  that  of  the  ''Ten  Thousand" 
retreating  Greeks  whom  Xenophon  has  immortal- 
ized, having  been  long  ago  distinguished  as  a  part 
of  that  heroic  "  Fifty  Thousand  "  who  fled  from 
France  to  England  about  four  3^ears  before  the 
annulling  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  signed  by  Henry 
IV.  in  1598,  for  the  protection  of  Protestants,  and 
revoked  by  Louis  XIV.  in  1685 ;  having  been  in 
force  nominally,  though  not  really,  nearly  four- 
fifths  of  a  century.  Having  emigrated  from  Eng- 
land to  New  York,  some  of  them  by  way  of  the 
West  Indies,  particularly  St.  Christopher's  and 
Martinique,  they  found  the  most  beautiful  lands 
of  the  vicinity  chartered  under  English  manorial 
proprietorship,  whereby  it  was  made  easy  for  them 
to  establish  themselves  in  new  and  permanent 
homes.  All  antipathies  of  blood  or  race  uielted 
away  in  the  presence  of  a  common  Christianity. 
An  area  of  six  thousand  acres,  a  part  of  the  manor 
of  Pelham,  was  conveyed  to  their  friend  and  agent, 
Jacob  Leisler,  merchant  of  New  York,  on  accept- 
able terms,  in  1689;  surveyed  and  divided  into 
lots  or  farms  by  Alexander  Allaire  and  Capt. 
Bond  in  1692 ;  named  New  Rochelle,  in  memory 
of  the  old  fortress  of  Protestantism  in  France :  and 
then  the  family  life  of  the  two  peoples,  by  its  own 


OLD   PELHAM  AND   NEW  ROCHELLE.  J 

interior  law  of  development,  grew  into  a  civil  and 
social  unity,  "  compact  together,"  under  the  sway 
of  a  common  sentiment,  as  if  all  gloried  in  the 
same  genealogical  origin. 

THE   ANTECEDENTS   OF    "  LORD   JOHN   PELL." 

In  this  retrospective  view  of  bi-centennial  his- 
tory we  can  hardly  trace  the  fortunes  of  a  rich 
domain  so  beautiful  as  was  this  broad,  picturesque 
area  of  almost  ten  thousand  acres,  so  near  the 
rising  metropolis,  constituted  by  royal,  ducal,  and 
colonial  authority,  under  lawful  grant  and  patent 
of  his  Majesty  Charles  II.,  and  also  of  his  sterner 
brother  King  James  II.,  "  an  absolute,  entire,  en- 
franchised township,  and  place  of  itself,  in  no 
manner  or  way  to  be  subordinate  or  under  the 
rule  of  any  riding,  township,  or  place  of  jurisdic- 
tion," and  then  observe  how  it  was  "  willed "  at 
once  by  its  first  proprietor,  Thomas  Pell,  into  the 
possession  of  an  English  heir,  his  nephew,  a 
young  man  only  twenty-five  years  of  age,  without 
being  sympathetically  alive  to  the  import  of  the 
doubtful  questioning  put  by  the  more  advanced 
of  the  exiles :  "  What  manner  of  man  is  this  lord 
of  the  manor  ?  What  have  been  his  antecedents  ? 
Is  his  spirit  akin  to  that  of  the  intriguing,  perse- 
cuting Royal  Duke,  James  of  York,  now  king, 
through  whom,  by  special  permission  of  his  Ma- 


8  LIFE  NOTES. 

jesty  Charles  II.,  the  earlier  charter  of  proprietor- 
ship was  received  ?  "  The  inquiry  was  serious  ; 
the  answer  was  encouraging.  The  young  lord's 
biography  was  easily  traced.  His  environments 
suggested  cheerful  jDrophecies.  Although  liis 
youthful  years  had  been  passed  amid  a  general 
unsettlement  of  things  in  Church  and  State,  ad- 
verse to  the  pursuit  of  his  studies  continuously  in 
due  course,  liis  home-life  and  school-life  under  his 
father's  ej^e  furnished  advantages  quite  exceptional 
for  liberal  self-culture,  adapted  to  qualify  him  for 
the  place  of  lordly  eminence  bequeathed  to  him  in 
this  New  World  as  the  protector  of  an  oppressed 
people,  the  founder  of  a  community  truly  unique 
as  to  condition  and  character. 

At  this  point  of  our  retrospect  let  us  take  up 
the  exiled  Huguenot's  question :  What  were  this 
young  lord's  antecedents?  His  father,  whose 
name  figured  largely  in  the  State  papers  of  the 
Protectorate  as  the  Right  Honorable  John  Pell, 
was  eminent  among  English  educators.  Born  on 
the  first  day  of  March,  1610,  at  Southwycke, 
Sussex  County,  England,  of  Avhich  parish  liis 
father,  the  Rev.  John  Pell,  was  then  rector,  he 
entered  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  in  the  year 
1623,  and  before  the  end  of  another  decade  had 
won  European  fame  as  an  author  in  the  higher 
range  of  philosophical  and  mathematical  studies. 


OLD  PEL/IAM  AND  NEW  ROCHELLE.  g 

Having  accepted  the  offer  of  a  professorship  in 
Amsterdam,  he  then  attracted  the  regard  of  the 
Prince  of  Orange,  by  whom  he  was  appointed  to 
the  professorship  of  mathematics  at  Breda,  in 
Holland,  where  a  military  and  naval  academy  had 
been  established.  Thus,  having  achieved  a  bril- 
liant career  in  the  prime  of  life,  he  was  chosen  by 
Oliver  Cromwell,  in  April,  1G54,  English  Resident 
Ambassador  to  the  Swiss  cantons.  This  confi- 
dential relation  to  the  Lord  Protector  at  the  time 
when  he  stood  forth  at  the  height  of  his  power, 
the  recognized  ^^I'otector  of  Protestant  Switzer- 
land against  the  persecuting  powers  of  the 
Continent,  gives  ample  proof  of  an  enlarged  states- 
manlike style  of  mind,  in  harmony  with  the  liberal 
ideas  and  progressive  spirit  that  have  througliout 
our  own  century  thus  far  ruled  the  course  both  of 
English  and  American  history.  A  single  fact 
recorded  by  Mr.  Bolton  in  his  history  of  West- 
chester County  (H.  51)  puts  this  inference 
beyond  all  questioning:  "In  the  Lansdownc  MSS. 
are  eleven  volumes  of  Dr.  Pell's,  written  in  excel- 
lent style.  The  first  volume  contains  a  vast  fund 
of  information  respecting  the  persecutions  of  the 
Piedmontese."  Evidently  his  sympathies  were 
with  the  true  leaders  of  the  age ;  not  with  the 
oppressors,  but  the  oppressed. 


10  LIFE  NOTES. 

THE  EDUCATION   OF   THE   HETK. 

In  connection  with  a  fact  so  significant,  we  are 
not  surprised  to  learn,  that,  while  serving  the 
government  of  his  country  at  Zurich,  Mr.  Pell's 
letters  to  his  wife  at  home  indicate  minute 
attention  to  the  elementary  education  of  his  only 
son,  the  future  ''  Lord  John  "  of  Pelham  ;  particu- 
larizing the  most  suitable  schools,  the  studies,  and 
the  teachers  appropriate  to  the  young  scholar's 
situation  or  turn  of  mind;  even  urging  special 
care  as  to  the  style  of  penmanship  required  by 
the  boy  "  eleven  years  old,"  in  danger  of  form- 
ing wrong  habits  at  the  outset.  Four  years  after 
his  many  educational  counsellings  had  been  writ- 
ten from  Zurich,  while  the  school-life  of  young 
John  was  still  in  process,  the  English  mission  to 
Switzerland  was  terminated ;  the  minister  was 
commended,  called  home,  and  informed  on  his 
arrival  that  the  Lord  Protector  was  dying.  Very 
soon  the  whole  country  was  convulsed ;  but,  de- 
spite the  agitations  of  that  disastrous  period,  the 
youthful  heir  of  a  transatlantic  "  lordship  "  —  fif- 
teen years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  father's  return 
—  was  exceptionally  favored  as  to  his  opportunities 
for  receiving  the  best  possible  training  under  the 
eye  of  his  watchful  parent,  who  had  already  taken 
rank  with  the  best  educators  of  England. 


OLD   PELHAM  AND   NEW  ROCHELLE.  II 

Fortunately  for  the  professor,  while  occupying 
so  effectively  his  chair  at  Breda  he  found  it  with- 
in his  power  to  confer  personal  favors  upon  the 
exiled  king,  Charles  II.,  then  sojourning  there. 
These  were  gratefully  remembered,  and  opened 
the  way,  soon  after  the  Restoration,  for  liis  behig 
admitted  into  "  holy  orders "  by  the  Bishop  of 
London  in  1661,  for  his  being  honored  with  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  gifted  by  the  Crown 
with  the  rectory  of  Fobbing,  in  Essex,  and  after- 
ward by  the  bishop  with  that  of  Lavingdon,  in 
the  same  county ;  all  showing  that  the  change 
of  government  from  commonwealth  to  kingdom 
brought  to  him  no  great  distress,  nor  interfered 
with  the  educational  interests  of  his  family.  The 
scholar,  the  diplomatist,  the  statesman,  who  had 
been  recognized  throughout  Europe  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Lord  Protector  in  defence  of  the 
peoples  oppressed  for  conscience'  sake,  was  emi- 
nently qualified,  of  course,  to  train  his  only  son 
into  sympathy  with  his  own  ideas  and  the  martyr 
spirit  of  the  exiles  who  were  to  seek  transatlantic 
homes  within  his  own  lordly  domain. 

In  this  timing  of  events  the  Huguenot  pilgrims 
discerned  a  divine  adjustment  of  means  to  ends  as 
real  and  apt  as  was  that  traced  by  the  Israelites 
in  the  predicted  exaltation  of  the  youthful  Joseph 
to  that   ancient   "lordship"  that   prepared   their 


12  LIFE  NOTES. 

way  to  the  Land  of  Promise.  Of  the  fine  quali- 
ties of  character  exemplified  by  these  heroic  peo- 
ple, and  the  possibilities  of  their  future,  he  was 
thoroughly  appreciative.  How  different  miglit 
have  been  their  fortunes,  had  he,  like  some  lead- 
ing men  of  the  period,  favored  the  exclusive 
policy  of  the  reigning  monarch  by  whom  the 
manorial  charter  had  been  granted,  and  whose 
measures  erelong  rendered  the  English  Revolu- 
tion a  logical  necessity  !  But  all  antipathies  were 
overruled,  and  in  the  annals  of  tlie  following 
century  we  trace  the  gradual  growth  of  a  well- 
ordered  and  happy  community,  distinguished  by 
an  inherited  refinement  of  manners  and  a  degree 
of  intellectual  culture  that  made  the  New  Rochelle 
of  Pelham  what  the  legal  phrase  of  the  charter  des- 
ignated the  manor,  —  "a  place  of  itself;"  unique, 
winning  to  its  homes  and  schools  the  best  elements 
of  family-life  and  of  social  advancement.  At  the 
opening  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  French 
language,  spoken  in  purity  and  elegance,  still 
lived  as  the  vernacular  of  home-life,  attracting 
the  more  progressive  class  of  students,  whereof 
the  names  of  Washington  Irving,  John  Jay,  Philip 
Schuyler,  and  Gouverneur  Morris  may  be  taken 
as  exponents.  A  few  who  were  children  at  that 
period  are  yet  living,  and  remember  the  ladies 
who,  like   Mary  Beslie,  the  sister  of  Dr.  Oliver 


OLD   PELHAM  AND   NEW  ROCHELLE.  1 3 

Beslie,  possessed  home  libraries  containing  the 
standard  works  of  French  literature  that  had 
nourished  the  intellectual  youth  of  their  mothers 
in  France.  As  it  has  been  well  said  by  Macaulay, 
that  the  fusion  of  Norman  and  Saxon  elements  in 
the  thirteenth  century  produced  the  England  that 
has  figured  as  a  power  in  world  history,  so  we 
may  truly  say  that  the  fusion  of  English  and 
French  elements  in  this  manorial  tract,  bought 
originally  of  the  Indians  by  Thomas  Pell,  Esq., 
in  1654,  confirmed  by  an  English  king,  James  II., 
as  a  '-lordship  "  in  1G8T,  produced  a  social  growth 
of  fine  typal  character,  and  furnished  a  contri- 
bution distinctively  its  own  to  the  progress  of 
American  colonial  civilization. 

A   MEMORY  OF   HUGUENOT  WO^IANHOOD. 

The  incidental  reference  by  name  to  an  excel- 
lent lady  who  had  passed  the  border-line  of 
"  threescore  and  ten  "  before  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury began,  recalls  to  mind  one  whose  image  is 
associated  with  my  earliest  memories  and  with 
my  first  impressions  of  the  primitive  style  of  the 
cultivated  Huguenot's  life  and  manners.  Madame 
Beslie,  while  in  thought  I  replace  her  amid  the 
old  home  surroundings  in  Pelham,  New  Rochelle, 
and  New  York,  re-appears  in  my  retrospective  mus- 
ing as  I  saw  her  often  in  my  school-days,  a  queenly 


14  LIFE  NOTES. 

woman  of  ninety-five  years,  not  bent  by  age, 
retaining  her  natural  ease  and  grace  of  movement, 
still  able  by  her  winning  ways  to  draw  us  young 
folk  to  her  side  as  listeners  to  her  talk  while 
she  rehearsed  the  memories  of  her  youth.  The 
younger  children  of  the  family  circle,  usually 
speaking  of  her  as  "Aunt  MoUie  Bayley,"  were 
obliged,  each  in  turn,  to  take  a  lesson  on  the 
different  spellings  of  French  words  that  sound 
alike.  When  her  memory  became  unretentive 
of  things  recent,  it  kept  fresh  as  ever  the  things 
long  j)ast ;  hence,  whensoever  I  greeted  her  after 
absences  of  a  month  or  week,  she  would  place  her 
hands  upon  my  temples,  then,  kissing  me  upon 
the  forehead,  would  pleasantly  allude  to  the  old 
French  mode  of  salutation.  At  once,  as  if  making 
a  new  communication,  she  would  repeat  with  an 
interest  as  lively  as  ever  the  story  of  the  flight, 
the  deadly  persecution  throughout  France,  and  the 
fate  of  a  relative  who  had  been  dragged  through 
the  streets  of  Paris  by  the  hair  of  her  head.  Hav- 
ing ended  her  narrative,  the  turn  of  her  familiar 
talk  would  be  suggested,  often  by  the  old  French 
book  that  she  would  happen  to  be  holding  in  her 
hand,  or  by  a  reference  to  some  volume  or  pictured 
page  within  the  glass  doors  of  her  book-case. 
Gifted  as  she  was  with  communicative  power,  she 
was,  at  the  same  time,  one  of  the  best  of  listeners, 


OLD   PELIIAM  AND  NEW  ROCHE LLE.     •     I  5 

calling  forth  from  her  company  the  best  they  had 
to  ofl^r ;  and,  indeed,  I  have  sometimes  wondered 
whether  the  charms  of  her  conversation  were  to 
be  regarded  the  more  eminently  as  an  inherited 
talent,  as  the  incidental  outcome  of  favoring  social 
influences,  or  the  product  of  some  kind  of  educa- 
tional training  that  had  grown  into  "a  second 
nature."  Though  uncertain,  just  now,  as  to  the 
date  of  her  departure  from  earth,  —  not  far  from 
the  close  of  1817,  —  I  can  truly  say  that  her  beau- 
tiful example  of  refined  Christian  womanhood  has 
been  ever  before  me  as  an  exponent  of  Huguenot 
character,  shaping  my  conceptions  of  Huguenot 
home-life,  and  keeping  alive  my  sympathies  with 
the  spirit  of  Huguenot  history. 

Coincident  with  these  sentiments  as  to  inherited 
culture,  was  the  impression  made  upon  the  mind 
of  New  England  by  the  example  of  pubHc  spirit 
exhibited  in  the  city  of  Boston  by  a  native  of 
New  Rochelle,  more  than  a  century  and  a  quarter 
ago.  From  the  earliest  days  of  the  American 
Revolution,  Faneuil  Hall  has  been  to  Boston  a 
household  word,  familiar  to  the  lips  of  men,  women, 
and  children  as  the  memorial  of  Huguenot  munifi- 
cence, rendered  classical  by  historic  associations 
that  quicken  the  pulse  of  patriotism,  and  call  forth 
the  spirit  of  song  in  commemoration  of  "the 
Cradle  of  Liberty."     Thus  the  name  of  a  Hugue- 


1 6  LIFE   NOTES. 

not  of  New  Rochelle  has  not  only  lield  a  sliining 
place  in  the  annals  of  the  colonial  commonwealth, 
but  lives  in  the  nation's  history  as  a  source  of 
inspiration,  awakening  memories  that  are  an  up- 
lifting power. 

THE   HUGUENOT   BENEFACTOR   OF    BOSTON. 

Although  the  name  of  this  man,  thus  memorial- 
ized, has  been  dailj^  repeated  in  the  first  city  of 
New  England  by  four  or  five  successive  genera- 
tions, yet  his  short  and  inspiring  life-story  had 
been  permitted  almost  to  fade  away  from  memory, 
until  its  late  restoration  to  the  popular  range  of 
home-reading  by  the  pen  of  Charles  C.  Smith,  who 
has  contributed  a  choice  chapter  to  the  ''Memo- 
rial History  of  Boston."  The  uncle  of  Peter, 
the  founder  and  donor  of  the  Hall,  was  Andrew 
Faneuil,  who  fled  from  France  to  Holland  in  1G85, 
and  thence,  as  the  record  shows,  had  become  in 
1691  a  tax-payer  and  citizen  of  Boston.  At  the 
opening  of  the  eighteenth  century  he  had  taken 
rank  as  the  leading  merchant  of  the  city  in  point 
of  wealth,  trusted  by  all  as  a  man  of  honesty  and 
honor.  His  death,  in  1737,  seemed,  indeed,  an 
untimely  event.  The  sense  of  loss  was  universal, 
expressed  by  the  gathering  at  his  grave,  —  a  pro- 
cession of  eleven  hundred  persons,  representatives 
of  the  whole  people.     His  property  was  "  willed  " 


OLD  PELHAM  AND   NEW  ROCHELLE.  1/ 

to  his  nepliew,  Peter,  who  at  eighteen  years  of 
age  had  left  his  native  town,  New  Rochelle,  and 
sojourned  for  a  short  period  in  Rhode  Island, 
whither  he  had  accompanied  his  father,  Benjamin  ; 
proceeding  thence  to  Boston,  he  entered  into  the 
service  of  his  uncle  Andrew,  and  soon  won  the 
confidence  and  the  love  that  issued  in  his  appoint- 
ment as  his  uncle's  executor  and  residuary  legatee. 
His  career  was  brief  but  brilliant.  Though  he 
lived  only  five  years  after  his  uncle's  decease,  he 
rendered  that  small  fraction  of  life  a  fine  histori- 
cal episode  in  the  municipal  record  of  his  time. 

In  the  year  1740  the  people  were  divided  into 
two  parties,  nearly  equal  in  numbers,  by  the  dis- 
cussion of  a  proposal  to  meet  a  public  need,  —  the 
erection  of  a  central  market-house.  The  oppo- 
nents of  the  enterprise  were  persistent,  though 
the  grounds  of  their  action  are  not  now  clearly 
discernible.  In  this  state  of  the  public  mind, 
Peter  Faneuil  came  forward,  and  offered  to  erect 
the  building  at  his  own  cost,  ''  to  be  improved  for 
a  market,  for  the  sole  uses,  benefit,  and  advantage 
of  the  town,  provided  that  the  town  of  Boston 
would  pass  a  vote  for  that  purpose,  and  lay  the 
same  under  such  proper  regulations  as  shall  be 
thought  necessary,  and  constantly  support  it  for 
said  use." 

The  selectmen  called  a  meeting  to  act  upon  the 


1 8  LIFE  NOTES. 

proposal ;  367  votes  were  cast  for  accepting  the 
gift,  360  against  it.  Mr.  Faneuil  enlarged  his 
plan,  and  over  the  market  erected  a  splendid  hall, 
capable  of  accommodating  a  thousand  persons. 
At  a  town-meeting  in  the  town-house,  Sept.  13, 
1743,  a  vote  was  unanimously  passed  accepting 
the  gift,  and  appointing  a  committee,  consisting 
of  the  moderator  of  the  meeting,  the  selectmen, 
the  representative  to  the  General  Court,  and  six 
other  gentlemen,  "to  wait  upon  Peter  Faneuil, 
Esq.,  and,  in  the  name  of  the  town,  to  render  him 
their  hearty  thanks  for  so  bountiful  a  gift,  with 
their  prayers  that  this  and  other  expressions  of 
his  bounty  and  charity  may  be  abundantly  recom- 
pensed with  the  divine  blessing." 

The  first  town-meeting  held  within  the  walls  of 
Faneuil  Hall,  1743,  was  the  occasion  for  deliver- 
ing a  eulogy  on  the  life  and  character  of  the 
donor,  by  Mr.  John  Lovell,  master  of  the  Latin 
School.  In  his  oration,  Mr.  Lovell  said,  after  re- 
ferring to  private  charities,  "  Let  this  stately  edi- 
fice, which  bears  his  name,  witness  for  him  what 
sums  he  expended  in  public  munificence.  This 
building,  erected  by  liini  at  his  own  immense 
charge,  for  the  convenience  and  ornament  of  the 
town,  is  incomparably  the  greatest  benefaction 
ever  yet  known  to  our  Western  shore."  Thus 
Boston,  a   century  and  a  quarter  ago,  gratefully 


OLD   PEL II AM  AND  NEW  2WCIIELLE.  1 9 

declared  to  the  world,  that,  although  the  Hugue- 
not element  did  not  much  affect  population  as  to 
quantity,  it  was  an  effective  factor  of  sterling 
worth  as  to  quality^  and  that  the  finest  expression 
of  its  spirit  and  style  was  to  be  found  in  the  mag- 
nificent record  left  there  by  the  large-souled  young 
Huguenot  of  New  Rochelle. 

THE  CITY  CELEBEATION,   JULY  4,    1843. 

Having  mentioned  the  year  of  Mr.  Faneuil's 
departure,  1743,  it  may  be  noted,  incidentally, 
that  in  1843  the  celebration  of  our  national  inde- 
pendence in  Faneuil  Hall  awakened  into  new  life 
old  historic  associations,  and  imparted  to  that 
day's  observance  somcAvhat  of  the  dignity  of  a 
centennial  recognition.  On  the  Fourth  of  July 
of  that  year  Mr.  Charles  Francis  Adams  de- 
livered his  first  public  oration,  and,  as  had  been 
expected,  in  the  presence  of  the  venerable  ex- 
President,  his  father.  Having  been  invited  to 
officiate  as  chaplain  on  that  occasion,  I  repaired 
to  the  Council  Chamber  of  the  City  Hall  half  an 
hour  before  the  time  for  forming  the  procession. 
While  reclining  alone  upon  the  old-fashioned 
window-seat,  enjoying  its  pleasant  outlook,  the  ex- 
President  entered  the  room  ;  erelong,  taking  his 
seat  beside  me,  he  touched  upon  a  few  reminis- 
cences of  the  past,  and  then  said,  in  a  tone  expres- 


20  LIFE   NOTES. 

sive  of  profound  feeling,  "  Tliis  is  one  of /"he 
happiest  clays  of  my  whole  life.  l^^ifty  years 
expire  to-day  since  I  performed  in  Boston  my  first 
public  service,  which  was  the  delivery  of  an  ora- 
tion to  celebrate  our  national  independence. 
After  a  half-century  of  active  life,  I  am  spared 
by  a  benign  Providence  to  witness  my  son's  per- 
formance of  his  first  public  service,  —  to  deliver 
an  oration  in  honor  of  the  same  great  event."  To 
this  I  answered,  "President,  I  am  well  aware  of 
the  notable  connection  of  events  to  which  you 
refer ;  and,  having  committed  and  declaimed  a 
part  of  your  owui  great  oration  when  a  schoolboy 
in  New  York,  I  could  without  effort  repeat  it  to 
you  now."  To  '*  the  old  man  eloquent  "  as  Avell 
as  to  myself  the  coincidence  was  an  agreeable  sur- 
prise. At  the  close  of  tlie  services  connected  with 
the  delivery  of  the  oration,  the  guests  of  the  city 
were  gathered  at  the  festal  banquet  in  Faneuil 
Hall.  There  I  was  called  upon,  as  chaplain,  not 
only  to  invoke  the  divine  benediction,  but  to  re- 
spond to  a  patriotic  sentiment  that  awakened 
memories  of  the  heroic  dead.  To  me,  certain  1}^  it 
was  aji  uplifting  thought,  that,  like  the  founder  of 
the  Hall,  belonging  by  birth  to  Pelham  and  New 
Rochelle,  at  the  end  of  a  century  from  the  j'ear 
of  its  completion  and  his  departure,  I  was  stand- 
ing in  the  thronged  edifice  that  memorialized  his 


OLD   PEIJIAM  AND   NEW  ROCIIELLE.  21 

ni  me,  alive  to  the  significance  of  the  position, 
well  assured  that  by  every  uttered  word  I  was  but 
voicing  the  ideas  that  he  loved,  that  he  expressed 
in  deeds  more  eloquent  than  words,  and  made  his 
record  a  treasured  legacy. 

Henderson's  island  a  centuky  ago. 

This  early  colonial  civilization,  which  we  have 
traced  from  its  beginning,  with  its  style  of  culture 
so  unique  on  account  of  its  variety  of  elements 
fused  into  newly  developed  characters,  erelong 
put  forth  a  power  of  attraction  that  gathered  to  it 
and  around  it  people  of  congenial  tastes,  apprecia- 
tive of  the  social  qualities  and  educational  aspira- 
tions recognized  as  a  transmitted  heritage.  Long 
remembered  among  these  who,  at  the  close  of  the 
last  century,  sought  a  home  in  old  Pelham,  Avas 
a  man  of  large  fortune,  an  educated  gentleman,  a 
bachelor  just  touching  the  border  of  middle  life, 
of  whom,  as  it  seems,  only  one  memorial  can  now 
be  found,  and  that  the  marble  slab  at  the  head  of 
his  grave,  hinting  briefly  at  the  beginning  and 
ending  of  his  life-story.  A  single  sentence  utters 
its  whole  message,  thus :  "  In  memory  of  Alexander 
Bampfield  Henderson,  Esq.,  a  native  of  Charleston, 
in  South  Carolina,  but  late  of  the  town  of  Pelliam 
and  county  of  Westchester,  who  departed  this  life 
26th  December,  1804,  aged  47  years." 


22  LIFE  NOTES. 

On  a  bright  summer's  day  about  ten  years  ago, 
in  a  solitary  walk  among  the  tombs  of  the  old 
French  burial-ground,  my  attention  was  arrested 
by  the  inscription  here  copied.  Although  I  had 
never  seen  the  man,  nor  had  been  his  contem- 
porary, I  felt  myself  closely  related  and  greatly 
indebted  to  him ;  for  I  was  familiar  with  the 
story,  that  from  his  beautiful  island  residence, 
separated  by  Pelham  Creek  from  the  land  estate 
of  my  grandparent,  William  Bayley,  he  used  daily 
to  walk  across  the  causeway  and  bridge  to  our 
homestead,  and  relieve  the  loneliness  of  "  Bach- 
elor's Hall "  in  the  sympathetic  enjoyment  of  our 
family-life.  Such  was  his  habitude,  indeed,  during 
the  most  important  period  of  my  mother's  history, 
—  her  later  school-days.  His  private  library,  a  true 
iudex  of  his  cherished  tastes,  was  one  of  the  best, 
at  tlie  time,  outside  of  the  metropolis ;  and  it 
greatly  intensified  his  enjoyment  of  it,  often  recog- 
nizing in  my  mother,  n4e  Anne  Bayley,  a  keen 
appreciation  of  books,  to  minister  to  her  intellec- 
tual development  by  placing  at  her  command  the 
freshest  productions  of  English  literature,  render- 
ing her  familiar  with  the  standard  works  of  essay- 
ists and  poets,  with  most  of  those  English  classics, 
indeed,  that  would  be  found  in  the  choicest  liome 
library  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
Thus,   working  ""better  than  he  knew,"  he  was 


OLD   PELHAM  AND   NEW  ROCIIELLE.  23 

providing  the  main  topics  of  interest  that  ruled 
the  course  of  our  household  talk  throughout  my 
school-days,  and  was  qualifying  my  mother  to  be- 
come, not  professionally,  but  incidentally  and 
really,  the  attractive  companion  and  educator  of 
her  five  children.  Her  grateful  allusions  to  him 
made  his  name  familiar  to  our  ears,  and  often 
curious  fancy  would  invest  with  a  golden  haze  of 
romance  the  unwritten  history  of  this  "lone  lord 
of  the  isle.''  Rumor  had  sometimes  whispered 
that,  in  his  experience,  the  glow  of  youthful  hope 
had  been  dimmed  by  the  death  of  a  first  love,  for 
whose  vacant  place  no  substitute  could  be  found 
on  earth. 

In  this  connection,  it  remains  to  be  said,  how- 
ever, that,  whether  this  suggestion  were  true  or 
not,  a  few  well-remembered  facts,  outlining  his 
life-course,  were  recently  rehearsed  to  me  by 
Elbert  Roosevelt,  Esq.,  whose  lifelong  residence 
in  Pelham,  near  the  island,  suggests  a  series  of 
memories,  related  to  the  whole  vicinity,  extending 
over  two-thirds  of  a  century.  These  conversa- 
tional statements  supply  what  was  lacking  to  give 
a  desired  unity  to  the  story. 

Mr.  Henderson,  born  in  South  Carolina,  was  of 
Scotch  origin :  was  educated  at  the  University  of 
Edinburgh,  and  then  took  rank  as  a  surgeon  in 
the    English   army.     Thus   he  was   brought   into 


24  LIFE   lYOTES. 

communication  with  the  British  ambassador  in 
India,  and  was  by  him  introduced  to  the  court 
of  the  reigning  prince,  who  engaged  the  surgeon's 
professional  services  in  behalf  of  his  favorite  wife, 
then  seriously  ill.  The  treatment  was  a  success  ; 
and  the  delighted  prince  honored  Mr.  Henderson 
in  his  own  way,  by  the  presentation  of  a  beau- 
tifid  Circassian  slave  girl,  about  thirteen  years 
of  age.  This  present  the  army  surgeon  did  not 
bring  away  with  him  from  India ;  "  but,  after  es- 
tablishing his  home  at  the  island,"  said  Mr.  Roose- 
velt, "  he  commissioned  your  father  (Capt.  James 
Hague  of  Pelham,  commanding  a  ship  in  the 
India  trade)  to  look  after  this  princely  gift,  and 
bring  with  him  the  young  Circassian  as  a  passenger 
on  his  return  voyage  from  Calcutta.  With  her, 
accordingly,  Capt.  Hague  sought  an  interview,  but 
found  her  so  well  pleased  with  lier  position  in  the 
household  of  a  British  officer,  that  she  could  not 
be  induced  to  leave  her  new  protector.  Never- 
theless, the  captain  was  accompanied  by  an  Indian 
lad,  the  surgeon's  protege^  who  Avas  welcomed, 
treated  as  an  adopted  son,  and  bore  the  name  of 
William  Henderson.  The  lad  survived  the  re- 
tired surgeon  eight  years,  and  was  buried  by  his 
side  in  the  old  French  burial-ground  at  New 
Rochelle."  Tlie  two  graves  are  surrounded  by  a 
well-wrought  iron  fence,  and  the  smaller  marble 


OLD   PELHAM  AND   NEW  ROCIIELLE.  25 

headstone  bears  tliis  brief  inscription:  "In  memory 
of  William  Henderson,  who  died  Jan.  19,  1812, 
in  the  25th  year  of  his  age." 

In  his  last  sickness  the  young  man  was  most 
kindly  attended  by  Dr.  Kogers,  through  whose  in- 
fluence or  advice  he  bequeathed  the  sum  of  twelve 
hundred  dollars,  appropriated  to  the  erection  of  a 
town-house  "for  the  use  and  convenience*'  of 
the  people  of  New  Rochelle.  With  the  recogni- 
tion of  this  gift,  the  townspeople  of  our  time 
generally  associate  the  name  of  the  owner  of  the 
island  home.  It  is,  however,  the  East-Indian 
youth's  memorial. 

UNIQUE  ART-GALLERY. 

Henderson's  Island,  beautiful  for  situation,  dis- 
tinguished by  its  homestead,  so  greatly  enriched 
by  the  best  of  home  libraries  in  Pelham,  became 
well  known  as  Hunter's  Island,  more  distinguished 
than  ever  by  its  new  palatial  mansion,  with  the 
best  private  art-gallery  ui  the  United  States. 
The  propriety  of  this  characterization  by  the  use 
of  the  superlative  degree  was  probably  undis- 
puted by  any  rival  during  the  first  two  decades 
of  this  century.  We  may  safely  say  that  no  one 
of  the  earlier  generations  of  the  Pells,  or  of  the 
Huguenots,  however  aspiring,  would  have  dreamed 
of  such  a  possibility  for  a  family  home  within  the 


26  LIFE   NOTES. 

bounds  of  the  manorial  grant  so  recently  chartered 
by  an  English  king  in  troublous  times,  and  then 
so  thoroughly  impoverished  by  the  Revolutionary 
War.  Under  wliat  conditions  could  it  have  seemed 
possible  that  some  of  the  choicest  treasures  of  an- 
cient Italian  galleries  could  be  transferred  to  a 
secluded  little  island  fifteen  miles  from  the  city  of 
New  York,  the  purchase  of  a  young  American? 

The  explanation,  as  received  from  Mr.  Hunter 
personally,  was  this :  At  the  time  of  his  gradua- 
tion from  Columbia  College,  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  it  so  happened  that  he  came  into  full  posses- 
sion of  his  property.  A  friend  and  fellow-student, 
travelling  in  Europe  while  Napoleon  was  cam- 
paigning in  Italy,  wrote  earnestly,  reminding  him, 
that,  on  account  of  insecurity,  art  treasures  were 
offered  for  sale  at  great  sacrifice,  and  that  an 
opportunity  to  indulge  cherished  tastes  had  now 
arrived,  the  like  of  which  had  not  been  known 
before,  and  might  never  come  again.  ''  My  an- 
swer was  prompt,"  said  Mr.  Hunter,  ''availing 
myself  of  his  service,  with  faith  in  his  judgment 
and  discretion." 

Here,  at  this  point  of  writing,  I  have  arrested 
my  pen,  in  order  to  read  aloud  to  a  friendly  caller 
what,  as  it  happens,  I  have  just  now  written,  and 
have  thus  drawn  forth  this  critical  questioning : 
"Surely  the   Italian   art-dealers   must   have   seen 


OLD   PELHAM  AND   NEW  ROCHE LLE.  2/ 

their  opportunity  in  negotiating  with  a  young 
commissioned  American,  and  might  have  been 
quite  equal  to  the  occasion.  How  have  the  ckiims 
of  these  choice  treasures  been  verified  ?  '  How- 
ever fair  and  apt  that  questioning  may  be,  suffice 
it  here  for  me  to  say,  that  it  is  not  within  the 
scope  of  my  purpose  to  determine  the  origin  of 
the  pictures,  and  that,  with  a  youth's  faith  in  the 
keen  insight  and  critical  judgment  of  so  highly 
educated  an  amateur  as  the  Hon.  John  Hunter,  it 
was  my  fortune  to  realize,  amid  our  surroundings 
in  the  gallery,  all  possible  delight  and  mental 
quickening,  limited  only  by  the  measure  of  recep- 
tivity. Outside  of  the  family  circle,  Mr.  Hunter, 
who  in  his  spirit  and  style  of  manners  repre- 
sented a  high  ideal  of  the  typal  gentleman,  the 
courteous  and  accomplished  State  senator,  re- 
appears to  the  eye  of  memory  as  the  first  person- 
ality that  I  can  recall  as  associated  with  my  early 
life  in  Pelham.  Erelong  after  the  death  of  his 
son,  Des  Brosses  Hunter,  Esq.,  the  galler}^  was 
sold.  The  island  passed  into  other  ownership. 
Yet,  whatsoever  may  be  its  fortunes  in  the  future, 
its  relation  to  old  Pelham  and  New  Rochelle  as 
a  source  of  intellectual  and  aesthetic  culture  to 
several  successive  generations,  will  brighten  the 
record  of  its  past,  and  render  its  name  a  cherished 
memory  in  the  annals  of  local  liistory. 


28  LIFE   NOTES. 


EPISODES   OF   OUR   PELHAM   HOlNfE-TALKS. 

The  mention  of  these  names  pertaining  to  the 
island's  liistory  in  connection  with  that  of 
tlie  manor  and  town,  carries  us  back  in  thought 
to  tlie  Anglo-French  life  of  old  Pelham,  as  pic- 
tured out  sixty  or  more  years  ago  in  our  family 
talks,  and  illumined  now  by  our  memories  of 
those  who  represented  the  remoter  past.  Fortu- 
nately for  us,  our  dear  grandparents,  uncles,  and 
aunts  were  lovingly  communicative ;  rehearsing  to 
us  of  the  third  generation  the  local  annals  of  the 
manor  and  the  familiar  facts  of  the  Revolutionary 
era,  —  little  episodes  as  lively  as  any  that  Feni- 
more  Cooper  has  woven  into  his  romance  of  "  The 
Si)y."  Tlien  incidental  stories  of  the  home-life 
that  followed  the  establishment  of  independence 
and  ''  the  Union  "  were  equally  winning,  making 
us  acquainted  with  our  kindred  and  neighbors, 
with  our  parents'  associates  in  their  early  days 
throughout  rural  and  suburban  surroundings. 
Prominent  among  these  was  Dr.  Richard  Bayley, 
the  only  brother  of  my  grandfather,  Avhose  mother 
was  a  Huguenot,  nie  Susanne  Leconte,  and  whose 
eminently  distinguished  daughter,  Eliza  Ann 
Bayley  Seton,  has  been  historically  recognized  as 
the  presiding  genius  of  the  Roman-Catholic  aca- 
demic  institute   at   Emmettsburg,  Md.,   and   the 


OLD   PELHAM  AND   NEW  ROCIIELLE.  29 

founder  of  tlie  order  of  Sisters  of  Charity  in 
the  United  States.  Dr.  Bayley  himself,  a  favorite 
student  of  the  celebrated  Hunter  of  London, 
the  first  professor  in  tlie  medical  department 
of  Columbia  College,  an  accepted  authority  as  a 
j^rofessional  writer  in  England  and  France,  though 
living  within  an  environment  of  churchly  influ- 
ences at  home,  acknowledged  no  connection  with 
any  ecclesiastical  organism.  Hence  the  position 
of  his  accomplished  daughter,  biographically  com- 
memorated as  ''Mother  Seton,"  the  gifted  educator 
as  well  as  the  founder  of  the  most  eminent  of 
sisterhoods  (and  we  may  add  here,  parenthetically, 
the  more  recent  positions  of  his  grandson,  James 
Roosevelt  Bayley,  as  having  been  at  first  rector 
of  the  Episcopal  Church  at  Harlem,  and  then 
at  last  Roman-Catholic  Archbishop  of  Baltimore, 
Primate  of  America),  seems  the  more  particularly 
note  worthy. 1  In  a  widening  circle  of  relationships 
thus  made  up,  there  could  be  evidently  no  lack  of 
conversational  topics  adai)ted  to  keep  us  all  men- 
tally alive  and  wide  awake  to  note  the  driftings 
of  thought  throughout  the  whole  community,  so 
recently  set  free  from  the  regime  of  a  coh/uial 
Church  establishment,  whose  ideal  aim  had  been, 
of  course,  the  legal  maintenance  of  religious  uni- 
formity. 

Touching  the  first  of  the  ecclesiastical  transmu- 

1  See  Appendices,  page  335, 


30  LIFE   NOTES. 

tations  here  mentioned,  profoundly  sad,  indeed, 
was  the  tone  of  amazement  discernible  in  the 
exclamation  of  Mrs.  Seton's  elder  sister.  Mis.  Dr. 
Wright  Post  of  Throgg's  Neck,  addressed  to  my 
mother,  and  by  her  repeated  to  me,  regarding  the 
talented  Ann  Eliza :  "  She  has  gone  over  to 
the  Church  that  persecuted  her  ancestors."  As 
we  now  look  back  over  the  seven  decades  that 
have  gone  by  since  that  day,  we  may  safely  say 
that  no  change  of  eaclesiastical  relations  on  the 
part  of  an  individual  has  stirred  "  society "  at 
the  time  with  emotions  so  keenly  conflicting,  or 
has  been  effective  of  influences  more  widely  felt 
in  the  homes  of  the  country. 

To  many,  even  personal  friends,  the  change 
seemed  inexplicable  ;  a  mystery,  a  fact  untrace- 
able to  any  adequate  cause.  Numerous  and  ear- 
nest were  the  questionings  as  to  what  influences 
had  been  secretly  working  at  the  starting-point  of 
this  new  career.  By  some,  especially  those  who 
had  been  associated  with  her  from  childhood  in 
the  communion  of  "dear  old  Trinity,"  the  ex- 
planation was  found  in  the  sensibility  of  her 
emotive  nature,  under  the  stress  of  sorrow,  to 
loving  appeals  during  her  stay  in  Italy,  where,  in 
the  year  1804,  her  honored  husband,  William 
Seton,  Esq.,  died  after  a  lingering  illness,  and 
where   her   depressed   spirit   found    relief  in    the 


OLD   PELHAM  AND   NEW  ROCIIELLE.  3 1 

ministrations  of  the  Roman-Catholic  Church,  as 
well  as  in  the  hospitable  home  of  the  noble-souled 
Felichi.  The  truth  is,  however,  that  the  trend 
of  her  steps  toward  the  Roman-Catholic  Church, 
strengthened  by  her  aesthetic  tastes,  was  noticed 
in  her  earlier  days  before  she  had  left  her  native 
land ;  and,  after  her  return  from  Italy  to  New 
York,  she  was  still  a  communicant  of  Trinity 
Church,  for  weeks,  as  she  said,  "in  an  agony  of 
suspense,"  engaged  in  discussions,  oral  and  writ- 
ten, with  the  Rev.  John  Henry  Hobart,  then  rector 
of  Trinity,  afterwards  bishop  of  the  diocese  of 
New  York,  and  Archbishop  Carroll  of  Baltimore, 
in  regard  to  the  main  principles  of  Protestantism. 
At  that  earlier  period  her  cousin,  Ann  Bayley  of 
Pelham,  only  eight  years  younger  than  herself, 
was  living  in  the  environment  of  the  same  reli- 
gious atmosphere,  keenly  sympathetic,  constantly 
interchanging  sentiments  as  well  as  visits. 

The  leading  idea  that  then  engaged  the  thoughts 
of  those  two  cousins  pertained  not  so  much  to  the 
emotive  nature  as  to  the  intellectual ;  for  a  main 
subject  of  discussion,  emphasized  in  the  chief 
pulpits  of  New  York  at  that  day,  was  the  relation 
of  the  sacraments  to  personal  salvation.  At  that 
point  the  life-course  of  the  two  cousins  diverged. 
The  affirmation,  sometimes  eloquently  argued,  that 
the  sacraments,  administered   through   a   regular 


32  LIFE   NOTES. 

priestly  succession,  are  the  divinely  appointed 
channels  through  Avhich  saving  grace  flows  forth 
from  the  fountain  of  life  into  the  human  soul, 
took  the  strongest  possible  hold  upon  the  spirit 
nature  of  the  elder  cousin,  calling  forth,  even 
then,  painful  doubts  over  a  suggested  question  ; 
namely,  this :  "  As  the  Anglican  Church  recognizes 
the  perfect  validity  of  the  Roman-Catholic  sacra- 
ments, while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  older  Roman 
Church  has  never  recognized  the  validity  of  the 
Anglican  administration,  am  I  not  re(|uired,  by  a 
proper  regard  for  my  own  souFs  peace  and  safety, 
to  place  myself  upon  the  ground  that  remains  to 
both  sides  undisputed?"  Strange  as  it  may  seem 
to  many  that  her  early  faith  should  have  faltered 
before  such  a  question,  from  that  starting-point 
of  thought  she  advanced  in  due  time,  after  her 
return  from  Italy,  through  "an  agony  of  sus- 
pense," to  the  positions  taken  in  her  printed  corre- 
spondence with  Bishop  Hobart  and  the  Primate  of 
Baltimore.  At  the  same  time,  her  younger  cousin, 
then  residing  at  the  paternal  home  in  Pelham, 
equally  interested  in  the  new  inquir}-,  as  to  them 
it  seemed,  having  been  attracted  as  a  listener  to 
the  teachings  of  the  eminent  preacher  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church  in  Murray  Street,  Rev.  Dr.  John 
Mitchell  Mason,  who  occasionally  delivered  a  dis- 
course in   New  Rochelle,  she   embraced,  with   a 


OLD   PE LI/AM  A. YD   NEW  ROCHELLE.  33 

responsive  spirit,  the  formulated  statement  of  pure 
Protestantism,  "justification  by  faith  alone,"  so 
eloquently  put  forth  by  him  as  "the  true  spirit 
union  with  Christ,  embracing  within  it  character 
and  condition."  Thenceforward  her  favorite  char- 
acterization of  Christianity  was  "the  religion  of 
tlie  New  Testament ;  "  emphasizing  thus,  as  she 
thought,  by  this  short  phrase,  the  two  distinguish- 
ing (^[ualities  of  the  Primitive  Church  teaching,  — 
simplicity  and  catholicity. 

It  is  a  curiously  suggestive  study,  this  tracing 
of  mental  histories.  From  the  same  starting- 
points  of  intellectual,  emotive,  or  spiritual  develop- 
ment, even  of  congenial  minds,  how  strangely  far 
apart  the  issues !  Some  time  before  her  departure 
for  Italy,  the  elder  cousin  visited  her  younger, 
sisterly  cousin  at  Pelham ;  at  the  moment  of  taking 
leave,  bidding  her  good-by  while  presenting  her  an 
article  of  skilfully  wrought  needlework  as  a  love- 
token,  she  kissed  her,  and  said,  "  I  hope  we  shall 
meet  in  heaven."  They  never  met  on  earth  again. 
Both  lived,  however,  to  an  advanced  age.  The 
elder,  having  wept  for  the  last  time  over  the  grave 
of  her  liusband  in  Italy, — the  English  burial- 
ground  at  Pisa,  —  and  having  returned  to  New 
York,  welcomed,  erelong,  tlie  comparative  seclu- 
sion of  a  conventual  life  in  Maryland.  The 
younger,  having  been  joined  in  marriage — by  Rev. 


34  LIFE   NOTES. 

Theodosius  Bartow,  rector  of  New  Rochelle,  at  her 
father's  house  in  Pelham  —  to  Capt.  James  Hague, 
commander  of  a  ship  in  the  East-India  trade,  lived 
happily  the  life  of  her  family  circle  until  nearly 
*'  fourscore  years  "  of  age  ;  and  then,  after  fourteen 
years  of  widowhood,  died  at  the  house  of  her  only 
daughter,  Mrs.  Dr.  Alexander  W.  Rogers,  Pater- 
son,  N.J.,  amid  the  benedictions  of  her  children, 
who,  in  accordance  with  the  Old  Scripture's 
voicing  of  filial  love,  "rise  u^j  and  call  her 
blessed." 

ISSUES   OF   THE  MANORIAL  HISTORY. 

Tlie  contrasted  issues  of  two  lives  thus  realized 
by  two  friends  of  Huguenot  descent,  impart  sig- 
nificance to  a  saying  noted  at  Paris  in  a  tourist's 
journal,  —  that  the  trend  of  the  French  nature  is 
toward  intellectual  freedom,  and  that,  where  there 
is  French  blood,  it  will  assert  itself  in  individuality 
of  character,  tempered  and  toned  by  inherited 
tastes  and  manners  into  social  and  civil  concord. 
The  fortunes  of  Pelham  and  New  Rochelle  illus- 
trate this  view.  In  this  connection,  it  seems  a 
noteworthy  fact  that  the  English  monarch  who 
gave  to  Pelham  its  first  manorial  charter,  was 
himself  the  sole,  self-determined  donor  of  the 
charter  of  Rhode  Island  to  Roger  Williams, 
openly  declaring  the   reason  of  his  action  to  be 


OLD   PELHAM  AND   NEW  NOC//ELLE.  35 

liis  sovereign  will  to  "  experiment  whether  civil 
government  could  consist  with  such  liberty  of 
conscience."  It  may  seem  strange  that  a  notably 
careless,  pleasure-loving  king,  like  Charles  II., 
should  rise  to  the  height  of  the  grandly  excep- 
tional opportunity  presented  to  him  as  a  means  of 
solving  a  great  problem  for  the  world  through  all 
time.  The  thought  has  been  naturally  suggested, 
that  he  had  no  higher  aim  than  a  provision  for 
unlimited  freedom  for  the  Roman  Catholics.  In 
that  combination  of  events,  however,  the  founder  of 
Khode  Island  recognized  a  divine  ruling,  or  over- 
ruling, when  he  said,  '•'•  The  Father  of  spirits  has 
impressed  his  royal  spirit,"  and  added,  in  his  letter 
to  Major  Mason,  ''  This,  his  Majesty's  grant,  was 
startled  at  by  his  Majesty's  high  officers  of  state, 
who  were  to  view  it  in  course  before  the  sealing ; 
but,  fearing  the  lion's  roaring,  they  couched,  against 
their  wills,  in  obedience  to  his  Majesty's  pleasure." 
As  here  we  repeat  this  marvellous  testimony,  we 
are  tempted  to  wish  that  the  experimenting  king 
who  gave  to  Pelham  as  well  as  to  Rhode  Island  a 
charter  of  self-government,  could  have  lived  long- 
enough  to  hear  from  the  whole  area  of  the  old 
manor,  after  embracing  within  its  limits  the 
town  of  New  Rochelle,  the  experimental  response 
of  a  thriving  population,  w^ith  all  its  diversities 
of  race,  taste,  and  traditions,  a  live    civil  unity ; 


36  LIFE   NOTES. 

their  homes  all  vocal  with  the  ancient  song  of 
the  Hebrews,  —  '^  The  border-lines  have  fallen 
to  us  in  pleasant  places ;  we  have  a  goocll}' 
heritage." 


SCHOOL-LIFE   IN  OLD   NEW   YORK.  3/ 


II. 

SCHOOL-LIFE  IN   OLD  NEW   YORK. 
CHILD   SCHOOLING. 

"A  THING  of  beauty  is  a  joy  forever,"  —  the 
first  line  of  a  long  poem,  —  has  been  a  household 
oracle,  familiar  to  the  lips  of  three  generations  of 
English-speaking  peoples.  No  Avonder,  then,  that 
occasional  revisits  to  a  rural  birthplace  like  Old 
Pelham,  with  its  picturesque  landscapes  so  well 
remembered  as  the  play-ground  of  early  childhood, 
should  have  power  to  renew  one's  youth  for  a 
lifetime.  Evidently  a  pleasant  birth-home  in  the 
country  is  an  enduring  heritage,  without  regard 
to  the  matter  of  land-title ;  for,  as  the  broad  out- 
look remains  unchanged,  the  early  home-love  will 
strengthen  itself  by  the  lapse  of  years.  How 
sharply  contrasted  with  this  experience  is  that  of 
childhood  within  the  city,  where  home-life  is  in  a 
constant  flux  of  change !  To-day  a  visit  to  Pel- 
ham  is  recreative ;  a  visit  to  the  home  of  our 
school-days  in  Old  New  York,  where  trade  has 
swept  the  family  life  away  from  the  surroundings, 
is  comparatively  saddening  if  not  sickening. 


38  LIFE   NOTES. 

Those  days  of  child  scliooling  in  the  great  city 
began  when  I  was  scarcely  seven  years  of  age. 
During  the  period  of  my  father's  long  vo3'ages  to 
India,  his  little  family  at  Pelham  had  been  health- 
fully growing ;  and  now  the  time  had  come  for  us 
to  bid  good-by  to  the  ancestral  homestead,  regard- 
ing it  thenceforward  as  a  resort  for  our  holiday 
pastimes,  rather  than  a  home-centre. 

SPIRIT   OF   THE  TIME   SPECIALLY   EDUCATIONAL. 

The  transfer  of  ''  the  boys  "  —  James,  William, 
and  John  Bayley  —  from  the  country  to  the  city 
came  about  at  a  time  exceptionally  favorable  to 
our  growth  manward,  near  the  end  of  1814  and 
of  the  war  with  England.  The  two  preceding 
years  are  remembered  still  by  a  few  octogenarians 
as  a  time  of  gloom,  mercantile  stagnation,  and 
general  depression  of  spirit.  The  pleasant  out- 
look from  our  piazza  at  Pelham  had  been  made 
rather  sombre  by  the  presence  of  English  war- 
vessels  in  sight  upon  the  sound.  A  brilliant  scene 
signalized  the  beginning  of  our  life  in  New  York  ; 
namely,  the  extemporized  illumination  called  forth 
so  magically  by  the  arrival  of  the  "  Favorite,"  on 
the  evening  of  Feb.  11,  1815,  bringing  the  news 
of  the  treaty  of  peace.  At  once  the  whole  city 
seemed  to  glow  in  electrical  light.  Despite  the 
wet  and  slush,  the  streets  were  thronged,  and  all 


SCHOOL-LIFE   I.V  OLD   NEW   YORK.  39 

emotions  fused  into  one  pervading  sentiment  of 
joy.  None  were  consciously  old  that  night ;  all 
were  young  alike  :  and  songs  that  wedded  rljyme 
to  music,  made  the  very  heavens  resonant  with 
patriotic  jubilation. 

To  the  many  living  veterans  of  '76,  that  treaty 
of  peace  was  as  the  fniishing-up  of  the  w\ar  of 
independence,  "establishing  the  work  of  their 
hands."  The  proclamation  thrilled  us  into  unity, 
and  "  made  all  men  kin."  It  was  a  real  educator. 
It  affected  the  tone  of  our  school-life,  inspired 
patriotic  sentiment,  and  quenched  antipathies  in 
the  joyous  pride  of  nationality.  It  ruled  our 
tastes  and  our  selections  for  declamation.  Patri- 
otic oratory  was  at  its  best.  The  speeches  of  the 
Revolutionary  fathers  supplied  a  large  proportion 
of  the  favorite  themes,  not  excluding,  however, 
the  standard  spemmens  of  liberal  English  elo- 
quence nor  those  of  patriotic  Irish  orators.  Amid 
the  exultations  of  the  period,  there  was,  in  1815, 
no  South  ver%u%  North,  no  North  ver^uB  South, 
but  simply  America  verms  England  and  king- 
ship; so  that  the  school-life  beginning  at  that 
time  was  inspired  and  uplifted  by  the  public 
spirit  that  had  been  nurtured  by  the  privations 
of  war. 


40  LIFE  NOTES. 

OUR  NEIGHBORHOOD;    CHURCH  AND   SCHOOL. 

Our  city  home  Avas  in  Spring  Street,  not  far 
from  the  Presbyterian  church,  then  under  the 
care  of  Rev.  Dr.  Perrine.  The  church  was  ren- 
dered comparatively  eminent,  however,  by  his 
successor  in  the  pastorate,  a  man  of  brilliant  origi- 
nality, who  showed,  as  was  then  often  said,  his 
early  associations  with  Quakerism  by  his  style  of 
protest  against  honorary  titles,  yet  quietly  suc- 
cuml)ed  at  last  to  the  transforming  forces  of  his 
environment,  and  became  famous  on  both  sides  of 
the  Atlantic  as  the  Rev.  Samuel  Hanson  Cox, 
D.D.  He  was  gifted  with  a  noble  physique^  an 
attractive  and  self-asserting  personality.  His  min- 
istry, intellectually  quickening,  yet  not  "sensa- 
tional," combined  the  most  remarkably  effective 
qualities  as  teacher  and  preacher,  expositor  and 
orator.  He  was  one  of  the  most  genial  of  men. 
His  style,  truly  cosmopolitan,  drew  to  him  inquir- 
ing and  thinking  minds  of  every  age  and  class, 
won  continuous  attention,  shaped  opinions,  and 
left  lasting  impressions  upon  personal  history. 
As  a  highly  cultured  man,  his  power  of  adapta- 
tion to  his  whole  audience  was  excejjtional.  Even 
young  schoolboys  were  curious  listeners,  and  re- 
peated his  sayings  man}^  a  time.  Gratefully  do  I 
recall  to  mind  his  appearance  as  a  rishig  power  in 


SCHOOL-LIFE   IN  OLD   NEW   YORK.  4 1 

our  neighborhood,  and  trace  his  career  as  a  theo- 
logian of  world-wide  eminence.  As  a  debater,  he 
has  been  long  remembered  by  the  ministers  of 
England  and  of  the  Continent  gathered  in  Lon- 
don at  the  meeting  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance, 
who  frankly  declared  their  conviction  that  he  had 
no  superior  in  the  world  upon  the  arena  of  doctri- 
nal discussion. 

Directly  southward  of  that  Presbyterian  church, 
about  a  minute's  walk  in  Dominick  Street  (parallel 
with  Spring),  stood  an  ample  frame  building,  sig- 
nalized as  the  "  Village  Academy,"  where,  in  the 
3'ear  1815,  were  daily  gathered  more  than  a  hun- 
dred children,  whose  schooling,  at  graduated  prices, 
was  committed  to  an  excellent  teacher.  Rev.  Mr. 
Wyckoff,  minister  of  the  Baptist  church  in  Van- 
dam  Street,  ten  minutes'  walk  northward  from  the 
school.  He  was  one  of  those  men  whose  personal 
presence  is  ever  the  best  possible  introduction,  —  a 
self-witnessing  character,  incapable  of  guile.  He 
was  clear-headed,  genial,  paternal,  apt  to  teach, 
ruling  by  love,  commanding  profound  respect. 
His  chief  assistant  was  his  son,  j\Ir.  Peter  Wyckoff, 
whose  daily  care  was  to  initiate  the  younger 
scholars  (including  his  two  brothers,  Josiah  and 
William  H.,  with  myself)  into  the  mysteries  of 
writing,  spelling,  reading,  and  arithmetic.  He, 
too,  was  faithful,  ''  magnifying  his  office,"  watch- 


42  LIFE   NOTES. 

ing  and  training  ns  individually  ;  his  father  super- 
intending all,  assuring  himself  that  the  foundations 
of  our  educational  structure  were  well  laid.  Then 
and  there  we  were  taught  to  regard  spelling  as  a 
high  art,  essential  to  success  in  life  and  even  to 
respectability.  Since  those  days  we  have  made 
the  acquaintance  of  learned  professors  in  colleges 
who  have  sought  aid  from  their  own  students  to 
write  correctly  in  the  English  tongue  their  letters, 
"  articles,"  or  "  papers  "  for  the  press,  and  so  have 
we  learned  to  appreciate  the  ideas  of  our  first 
teachers  as  to  the  value  of  iwimary  lessons  in  rela- 
tion to  the  whole  of  one's  life-work. 

PRIMARY   LESSONS. 

While  thus  emphasizing  fidelity  to  beginners 
in  the  child-period  of  education,  memory  recalls 
a  few  juonths  of  schooling  prior  to  that  begun 
thus  in  New  York  under  Mr.  Wyckoff.  In  the 
year  1813,  five  years  of  age,  I  was  permitted  to 
be  the  companion  of  my  mother  for  a  day's  jour- 
ney, in  order  to  visit  my  older  brother,  James, 
then  boarding  at  New  Canaan,  Conn.,  in  the 
family  of  Mr.  Abraham  Richards,  in  company 
with  a  dozen  boys  from  New  York;  all  of  them 
attending  the  district  school  under  the  care  of  ]\lr. 
Keeler,  spoken  of  by  many  as  "  a  born  teacher." 
This  first  excursion  from  home  beyond  the  bounds 


SCHOOL-LIFE   IN  OLD   NEW   YORK.  43 

of  the  old  manor  —  that  is,  outside  of  Pelham  and 
New  Rochelle  —  was  quite  charming;  hence  it  was 
granted,  as  a  favor,  that  I  should  remain  with  my 
brother  to  become  initiated  into  school-life  under 
happy  auspices.  There  I  was  taught  to  "  spell  " 
in  earnest,  by  one  who  "  meant  business,"  and  to 
read  in  "The  Child's  Instructor."'  Mr.  Keeler's 
daily  drill  and  training  were  perfect.  His  heart 
was  in  his  work ;  and  he  managed  to  get  a  good 
deal  of  amusement  out  of  it,  instinctively  adjust- 
ing his  way  to  the  needs  of  each  scholar  individ- 
ually, as  if  believing  that  the  fortunes  of  each 
were  to  be  shaped  by  his  beginnings.  Our  reci- 
tations were  made  as  lively  as  the  play  of  any 
old-fashioned  spelling-match  on  a  New-England 
winter's  evening  ever  was ;  and  we  were  made  to 
understand  that  our  aim  should  be,  not  merely  to 
spell  our  lessons  aright,  but  to  become  "  unable  to 
spell  wrong  without  being  aware  of  it,  and  thence 
blamable  for  doing  so  on  purpose."  Throughout 
a  long  lifetime  I  have  never  lost  a  sense  of  indebt- 
edness to  my  first  teacher  in  Old  Connecticut; 
gratefully  remendjered,  indeed,  as  are  those  who 
in  Old  New  York  carried  forward  the  primary 
Avork  so  faithfully  and  aptly  begun.  In  school- 
teaching,  every  item  of  honest  work  tells  its  own 
story,  and  endures  forever. 


44  LIFE   NOTES. 


III. 

ACADEMIC  LIFE   IN   OLD   NEW   YORK. 
BOY,HOOD   SCHOOLING. 

The  last  quarter  of  the  year  1816  witnessed  the 
removal  of  our  household  from  ''  West  Side/'  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wyckoff  and  his 
popular  school-circle,  for  a  residence  more  con- 
venient in  regard  to  advanced  schooling.  The 
new  home  was  situated  near  Chatham  Square,  a 
location  containing,  as  was  often  said  by  its  many 
patrons,  "  the  best  school  in  the  city,"  under  the 
direction  of  a  gifted  principal,  Mr.  Eber  Wheaton, 
whose  text-books  and  apparatus  for  teaching  had 
won  him  credit  for  professional  skill.  The  time 
of  the  public-school  system  had  not  yet  fully 
come  in  New  York  ;  and  Mr.  Wheaton,  soon  after 
his  starting,  gained  a  strong  hold  upon  the  com- 
munity, exhibiting  an  array  of  four  hundred 
scholars  from  the  choicest  patronage  of  a  wide 
area.  In  that  gathering  were  represented  families 
of  various  races,  and  every  denomination  of  be- 
lief, political   or   religious ;    children    not  only  of 


ACADEMIC  LIFE   IN  OLD   NEW   YORK.         45 

native  American,  but  of  English,  Scotch,  Irisli, 
Huguenot,  and  Jewish  bk)od,  and  these  mostly  of 
the  best  type  of  character.  A  considerable  pro- 
portion were  preparing  for  college ;  and  for  suc- 
cessive years  Latin  and  Greek  were  taught  by 
graduates  from  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  until  the 
appearance  of  young  John  Walsh,  "  a  New  York 
boy,"  whose  genius  for  teaching  the  ancient  lan- 
guages gave  him  a  commanding  position  as  soon 
as  he  had  attained  the  age  of  legal  manhood. 
The  school  was,  in  fact,  a  comprehensive  institute, 
meeting  the  needs  of  "  the  well-to-do  classes  "  of 
the  community.  To-day  New  York  honors  her 
public  schools,  and  invites  strangers  to  visit  them : 
in  the  first  quarter  of  this  century  all  gloried  in 
our  chosen  private  schools,  and  compared  the 
claims  of  their  principals  with  a  gratified  pride 
of  preference. 

THE  SCHOOL   AND   ITS   MASTER. 

Mr.  Wheaton's  school-establishment  was  sit- 
uated, at  the  beginning  of  his  career,  on  the  east- 
ern side  of  Chatham  Square,  then  a  little  park, 
between  James  and  Fayette  Streets,  where  about 
two  hundred  scholars  were  gathered  within  a  two- 
story  buildiug  of  apparently  ample  dimensions. 
Its  overcrowding,  however,  occasioned  the  erec- 
tion of  a  four-story  edifice  of  brick,  adapted   to 


4.6  LIFE   NOTES. 

school  purposes,  capable  of  holding  more  than 
four  luindred  scholars  (the  entrance  for  tlie  girls 
being  at  the  front-door  on  Chatham  Street,  that 
for  the  boys  through  an  alley  opening  on  James 
Street).  This  structure,  well  furnished,  having 
received  its  ''  Faculty  "  of  seven  instructors,  Avas 
unsurpassed  for  several  years  as  an  educational 
institute  for  boys  in  Old  New  York.  Not  only 
every  department,  but  every  individual,  felt  the 
impelling  and  overruling  power  of  the  principal. 
He  was  always  moving  watchfully  on  his  reguhir 
beat  from  room  to  room,  receiving  reports,  admin- 
istering discipline  or  encouragement,  and  uttering 
some  timely  word  as  food  for  thought.  He  was 
then  in  his  prime.  He  was  proud  of  his  school ; 
and,  despite  the  comphiints  of  laggards,  the  ma- 
jority were  proud  of  him,  owning  their  indebted- 
ness for  pungent  "  fillips,"  that  called  forth  what 
was  best  in  them.  Never  have  I  seen,  since  then, 
a  finer  show  of  youthful  life,  of  congenial  and 
competitive  forces,  than  daily  met  within  those 
walls,  under  the  sway  of  one  master-spirit  and  a 
co-operative  Faculty. 

WILLIAM  P..  Williams's  school-days. 

From  my  place  among  the  smaller  boys  in  the 
north-east  corner  of  the  most  spacious  room  in 
Mr.  Wheaton's  first  school-building,  as    I  turned 


ACADEMIC  LIFE   IN  OLD  NEW   YORK.         4/ 

my  glance  diagonally  across  toward  the  south- 
west corner,  to  the  larger  boys  preparing  for  Co- 
lumbia College,  my  eye  rested  upon  William  R. 
Williams,  occupying  his  place  at  his  desk,  head- 
ing that  division.  Though  I  often  noticed  him,  I 
never  caught  his  eye  glancing  toward  me  or  my 
vicinity;  rather,  on  the  other  hand,  he  was  usually 
bending  over  the  open  books  before  him,  moving 
slightly  back  and  forth  from  his  text-book  to  his 
dictionary  or  grammar,  and  then  again  to  his 
lesson-page,  —  Homer  it  might  have  been,  or  "Col- 
lectanea Majora,"  containing  extracts  from  Demos- 
thenes, Longinus,  or  other  standard  writers,  —  his 
whole  attention  apparently  engaged  not  so  much 
in  doing  the  set  task  as  in  searching  like  a  miner 
for  the  subtle  meanings  treasured  in  the  lore  be- 
queathed to  us  by  the  old  past.  He  was  the  head 
scholar.  In  the  same  relative  standing  he  entered 
Columbia  College  with  the  class  of  candidates 
composed  of  boys  from  all  the  other  preparatory 
schools  of  the  city,  and  kept  his  place  of  eminence 
to  the  day  of  his  graduation. 

PROFESSIONAL   CAREER. 

Having  thus  traced  our  distinguished  school- 
mate's scholastic  life  to  its  ending,  we  may  fitly, 
at  this  point,  note  the  beginnings  of  his  profes- 
sional career. 


48  LIFE   NOTES. 

As  that  historical  era,  the  day  of  graduation, 
approached,  many  friends  of  the  family  were  wont 
to  express. the  wish  that  young  Williams  might 
study  for  the  Christian  ministry ;  and  some,  in 
view  of  the  harmony  of  his  tastes  and  habitudes 
with  his  home  surroundings  and  the  favored  seclu- 
sion of  his  fatlier's  library,  were  quite  sure  tliat 
this  determination  would  assert  itself  as  a  matter 
of  course.  Others,  however,  were  doubtful,  and 
gently  rebuked  these  calculations  by  reminding 
the  calculators  of  the  proverb,  '^  Grace  does  not 
run  in  the  blood  ; "  while  others  still  were  sure  to 
add  the  remark,  that,  '^  if  the  Master  has  any  use 
for  this  young  man  in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel, 
he  will  know  his  calling  in  due  time,  and  be  unable 
to  keep  himself  out  of  it."  But  when  it  was  told, 
erelong,  that  the  graduated  student  had  regularly 
entered  the  law-office  of  Hon.  Peter  A.  Jay,  and 
was  there  daily  at  liis  work,  notable  exclamations 
of  wonder  were  heard  at  once;  and  one  highly 
respected  gentleman,  of  Welsh  stock,  of  purest 
blood,  and  very  positive  opinions,  freely  expressed 
his  astonishment  that  so  excellent  a  man  as  tlie 
Rev.  John  Williams  could  ever  consent  that  his 
gifted  son  should  adopt  a  profession  so  necessarily 
immoral  as  that  of  a  lawyer,  ''requiring,  as  it  docs, 
in  order  to  success,  the  whitening  or  blackening  of 
character  at  the  sacrifice  of  truth." 


ACADEMIC  LIFE   IX  OLD   XEW    YORK.         49 

Xevertlieless,  the  regular  course  of  law-study 
was  pursued,  aud  at  its  termination  Mr.  Williams 
opened  an  office  in  Grand  Street,  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  city.  About  that  time,  in  tlie  autumn 
of  1826,  having  graduated  at  Hamilton  College, 
Clinton,  Oneida  County,  and  having  resolved  to 
enter  the  theological  seminary  at  Princeton,  I 
was  lingering  in  the  city,  with  the  view  of  obtain- 
ing a  license  to  preach  from  the  Oliver-street 
Church,  and  was  just  then  enjoying  a  visit  at  the 
home  of  Mr.  Joshua  Gilbert,  a  member  of  that 
church,  a  lifelong  friend  of  the  pastor's  family ; 
a  character  of  marked  individuality  ;  a  man  whose 
physique  indicated  healthful  vitality  ;  a  large- 
souled,  plain,  honest  man,  straightforward,  yet 
altogether  gentlemanly  aud  Christian  in  tone, 
manner,  and  spirit. 

"Come,"  said  he,  one  evening,  "let  us  walk,  I 
pray  you,  and  call  on  Mr.  William  R.  AVilliams  at 
his  law-office.  I  am  firm  in  the  belief,  that,  though 
he  would  become  a  great  lawyer,  grace  long  ago 
touched  his  heart,  and  that  he  ought  to  abandon 
the  law-business,  and  enter  upon  the  ministry  of 
the  gospel.  I  wish  to  convince  him  that  it  is  his 
duty  to  do  so.  Now,  I  know  that  he  will  plead 
the  other  side  against  me ;  and  I  desire  you  to  be 
with  me,  and  help  me  all  that  you  can."  We  were 
cordially   welcomed   at   the   office.      Mr.    Gilbert 


50  LIFE  NOTES. 

made  a  long  evening  of  it,  proceeding  immediately 
to  business,  and  urging  the  claims  of  the  Christian 
ministry  upon  the  young  lawyer  as  relatively  su- 
preme in  view  of  his  peculiar  qualifications  and  all 
the  adjustments  of  his  life  regarded  as  means  to 
an  end ;  attacking  directly  and  strategically  Mr. 
Williams's  position  in  defence  of  his  continuance 
in  the  life-course  upon  which  he  had  entered,  by 
argumentation,  by  wit,  humor,  and  solemn  appeal. 
Recognizing  the  dignity  of  the  profession  of  law, 
he  emphasized  the  dignity  of  the  gospel  ministry, 
and  the  specialty  of  its  claims  in  the  case  here 
considered. 

An  account  of  that  evening's  interview  I  com- 
municated to  my  father,  who,  meeting  Mr.  Gilbert 
soon  afterward,  inquired  if  he  thought  Mr.  Wil- 
liams inclined  to  yield  to  the  views  that  had  been 
urged  upon- his  attention ;  the  reply  was,  "  Oh,  no ! 
He  was,  from  first  to  last,  modest  as  a  maiden 
and  stubborn  as  a  mule." 

Although  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  say  whether 
that  visitation  was  in  any  way  influential  or  not, 
the  simple  incident,  as  part  of  a  personal  history, 
discloses  the  point  of  view  occupied  by  the  young 
lawyer  in  regard  to  his  outlook  upon  life  at 
twenty-three  years  of  age.  Whatsoever  the  truth 
may  be  in  answer  to  that  question,  as  to  the  work- 
ings of  thought  or  feeling,  suffice  it  to  say,  that, 


ACADEMIC  LIFE   IN  OLD   NEW   YORK.         5  I 

while  he  was  yet  in  the  prime  of  early  manhood, 
he  was  impelled  by  his  supreme  convictions  to 
adopt  as  a  life-aim  the  higher  ideal,  which  Ave  have 
lived  to  see  realized  hi  the  pastorate  of  half  a  cen- 
tury, exerting  an  influence  of  distinctive  type 
through  the  pulpit  and  the  press  over  a  world- 
wide area. 

ROBERT   AND   WILLIAM   KELLY,    BROTHERS. 

In  the  range  of  students  near  to  William  R. 
Williams,  in  a  younger  class,  like  him  in  faculty 
of  acquisition,  was  Robert  Kelly,  the  son  of  a 
New  York  merchant.  He,  too,  in  scholarship  the 
peer  of  the  best,  fulfilled  his  course  persistently. 
Taking  the  highest  honors  as  he  passed  along  the 
curriculum  of  academy  and  college,  after  his  gradu- 
ation he  entered  into  mercantile  business  in  com- 
pany with  his  younger  brother,  William  Kelly, 
who  had  devoted  his  later  school-years  mainly  to 
English  literature.  At  the  close  of  a  brief  mer- 
cantile career,  not  much  more  than  six  years,  they 
retired,  in  183G,  with  ample  fortunes,  escaping 
the  crash  of  1837,  which  wrecked  so  many  of  the 
oldest  houses  in  various  lines  of  commerce.  The 
younger  gave  his  attention  to  agriculture,  in 
accordance  with  the  most  advanced  scientific  and 
artistic  ideas  ;  rendering  his  farmhome  at  Rhine- 
beck  famous  the  whole  country  over.     That  grand 


52  LrFE   NOTES. 

farm,  however,  and  its  correlated  interests,  did  not 
make  up  his  whole  world.  Educationally,  socially, 
and  politically,  he  was  a  leading  spirit  in  the 
Empire  State,  an  active  worker  in  agricultural, 
industrial,  and  philanthropic  associations.  At  the 
time  of  his  death  he  was  president  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  Vassar  College.  Strongly  contrasted 
with  this  predominant  rural  taste  as  a  factor  in 
shaping  a  career^  was  the  sympathetic  interest 
in  city  life  tliat  disposed  the  elder  brother,  Robert 
Kelly,  Esq.,  to  make  his  home  in  the  great  me- 
tropolis, actualizing  one's  best  conceptions  of  cul- 
tured American  citizenship  ;  cherishing  to  the  last 
his  youthful  enthusiasm  in  intellectual  pursuits, 
responsive  to  the  calls  made  upon  him  for  official 
service  in  literary,  civil,  philanthropic,  as  well  a-s 
educational  relationships. 

The  memory  of  an  example  like  that  thus  briefly 
noted  is  a  source  of  strength.  From  the  year  of 
his  graduation  to  that  of  his  departure  from  earth 
there  was  not  a  day  when  Mr.  Kelly  would  not 
have  been  recognized  as  competent  to  occupy 
effectively  a  professor's  chair  in  the  classical  de- 
partment of  any  universit}^  His  habit  of  faithful 
work  in  connection  with  examining-committees 
has  been  on  many  occasions  a  reminder  of  that 
fact.  All  his  acquisitions  were  cherished  treas- 
ures, and  his  delight  in  classical  re-readings  was  an 


ACADEMIC  LIFE   IN  OLD  NEW   YORK.         53 

inspiring  lesson  to  the  students  who  came  before 
him  as  an  appointed  examiner.  The  minutest 
items  of  criticism  seemed  to  be  to  him  as  fresh  as 
ever.  Of  few,  indeed,  in  England  or  America, 
can  the  like  fusion  of  tastes  and  activities  be 
truthfully  affirmed.  How  rare  the  living  exam- 
l)le,  though  always  apparently  among  the  possi- 
bilities !  A  half-century  ago,  or  more,  there  was 
a  name  shining  brightly  as  a  star  in  the  literary 
firmament,  illustrative  of  this  combination,  quite 
familiar,  comparatively,  to  the  young  men  of  that 
time,  —  the  name  of  William  Roscoe,  a  banker  of 
Liverpool,  author  of  the  "Life  of  Lorenzo  de 
Medicis,  called  the  Magnificent,"  and  the  "  Life  of 
Leo  X.,''  of  a  pamphlet  on  the  "  Slave  Trade," 
and  of  "  Criticisms  on  Burke's  Views  of  the 
French  Revolution."  He  commanded  most  grate- 
ful recognition  as  the  scholarly  gentleman,  at 
home  alike  in  the  counting-room,  the  Board  of 
Trade  or  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  in  the 
associations  of  professional  men  of  cosmopolitan 
spirit,  whether  authors,  editors,  or  statesmen,  as 
exemplified  by  some  few  in  our  own  age,  like 
Bryant,  Gladstone,  or  Garfield.  The  death  of 
Robert  Kelly  seemed  untimely,  as  if  interfering 
with  the  programme  of  his  proper  life-work.  In 
the  view  of  those  who  knew  him  best,  his  name 
was  associated  with  that  of  Roscoe  as  an  exponent 


54  LIFE  NOTES. 

of  the  highest  literary  and  scientific  culture  out- 
side of  the  range  of  professional  or  scholastic 
life.  By  the  best  men  of  the  age  his  removal  was 
felt  as  a  bereavement ;  and  by  none,  perhaps,  more 
than  by  Rev.  Dr.  William  R.  Williams,  to  whom 
early  friendship  had  bound  him  in  ties  of  closest 
relationship  to  the  last  moment  of  his  earthly 
existence. 


EDUCATIONAL   PERIOD.  55 


IV. 

EDUCATIONAL   PEKIOD. 
SCHOOL-LIFE   SURROUNDINGS. 

In  a  large  school-establishment  like  the  one 
already  described  as  presided  over  by  Mr.  Wheaton, 
in  New  York,  a  considerable  part  of  a  boy's  edu- 
cation is  derived  indirectly  from  his  surroundings, 
rather  than  the  direct  teachings  that  he  pays  for. 
Of  benefits  thus  received  incidentally,  the  most 
noteworthy  of  all,  in  relation  to  character,  is  a 
cosmopolitan  spirit,  implying  a  superiority  to  clan- 
nish prejudices.  In  the  Chatham-square  school, 
seventy  years  ago,  a  portion  of  the  best  family-life 
of  the  city  was  represented.  And  thus,  from  a 
fusion  of  home  influences,  there  grew  up  grad- 
ually a  sympathetic  interest  in  the  subjects  of 
daily  talk  introduced  into  our  several  home-circles 
by  the  popular  writers  of  the  time. 

LITERARY   SPIRIT   OF   THE   PERIOD. 

Never,  indeed,  before  or  since  the  first  quarter 
of   this  century,  has  there    been   known    in    this 


56  LIFE  NOTES. 

country  an  awakening  of  literary  enthusiasm  so 
quickly  pervading  the  community  of  a  great  city 
as  that  which  distinguished  this  period  in  New 
York,  when  the  newspapers  and  placards  were  so 
frequently  announcing  a  new  story  by  the  author 
of  "Waverley,"  "The  Great  Unknown,"  a  new 
poem  by  Sir  Walter  Scott  or  by  Lord  Byron,  a 
new  sketch  or  essay  by  Washington  Irving,  or  a 
new  historic  romance  by  J.  Fenimore  Cooper. 
These  authors  were  then  at  the  height  of  their 
power,  eacli  a  "living  presence,"  not  only  at  home, 
l)ut  in  our  scliool,  interesting  alike  the  young  and 
tlie  old;  calling  forth  queries  and  criticisms;  bring- 
ing teachers  and  scholars,  parents  and  children, 
friends  and  neighbors,  to  a  common  plane  of  so- 
cial intercourse.  In  the  elevation  of  the  public 
taste,  by  creating  a  new  literature  for  home-life. 
Sir  Walter  Scott  and  Washington  Irving  were 
good  co-workers,  warmly  appreciative  of  each 
other,  as  was  shown  by  the  fact  that  Scott  en- 
treated Irving  to  remain  in  England  as  editor- 
in-chief  of  a  new  magazine,  to  meet  the  needs 
of  English-speaking  peoples  everywhere.  This 
friendly  proposal  Irving  declined,  and  returned  to 
New  York  to  complete  his  life-work  amid  the  asso- 
ciations, haunts,  and  resorts  of  his  young  da3's. 
All  were  glad  to  welcome  him  home  again ;  for 
the   personal   presence  of   such  a  man,  even    the 


EDUCATIOiXAL   PERIOD.  57 

si^lit  of  liirn  occasionally  in  the  streets,  is  a 
gleam  of  sunsliiue,  a  real  cheer,  to  a  whole 
community. 

EDUCATIONAL  LEADERS. 
In  noting  the  surroundings  of  our  school-life, 
we  recall  the  images  of  public-spirited  men  who 
were  naturally  educational  co-workers.  Eminent 
among  these  was  Samuel  L.  Mitchell,  LL.D.,  pro- 
fessor of  natural  history,  lecturer  in  the  ]\Iedical 
College,  whose  influence  as  an  example  of  cheer- 
ful industry  touched  us  all,  not  only  by  means  of 
his  ubiquitous  activities,  but  also  by  his  geniality 
of  manner  and  aptness  of  speech  in  presidmg  at 
examinations  and  in  presenting  the  prizes.  His 
faculty  of  memory  was  a  wonder,  and  won  for 
him  the  appellation  of  "the  Live  Cyclopaedia," 
—  a  homely  title  of  honor  whereof  he  might  well 
have  been  proud,  distinguished  though  he  was  by 
insignia  of  honorary  membership  conferred  by  the 
chief  learned  societies  of  Europe.  Education,  in 
the  original  sense  of  that  word,  — the  bringing-out 
what  is  in  one,  —  was  his  delight;  and  the  ease 
with  which  he  won  co-operation,  even  of  boys,  in 
enriching  his  museum  with  specimens  of  the  rare 
and  curious,  gathered,  through  their  friends,  from 
all  quarters  of  the  globe,  was  but  the  play  of  a 
special   power,   a   gift   of    nature.     The   juvenile 


58  LIFE   NOTES. 

friendships  thus  formed  by  the  Doctor  were  often 
lifelong,  —  a  fact  that  I  am  reminded  of  b}'  a  letter 
in  my  keeping,  responsive  to  a  college  mineralogi- 
cal  society  of  undergraduates,  who  had  voted  him 
an  honorary  membership,  written  as  gracefully  as 
if  addressed  to  the  Royal  Society  of  London  or 
the  Academy  of  France. 

Of  this  order  of  men,  and  a  co-worker  with  Dr. 
Mitchell  in  nearly  all  his  scientific  aims,  was  Rev. 
Daniel  H.  Barnes,  LL.D.,  who,  toward  the  close  of 
the  first  quarter  of  this  century,  was  at  the  head 
of  a  great  monitorial  school,  famous  for  a  tim.e  as 
"the  New  York  High  School,"  carrying  into 
effect  the  Lancasterian  system  of  teaching  by 
trained  monitors,  in  an  ample  three-story  edifice 
of  brick,  munificently  furnished  with  apparatus, 
and  accommodating  five  hundred  enrolled  scholars. 
Associated  with  Dr.  Barnes,  as  lecturer  on  nat- 
ural philosophy  and  chemistry,  was  Professor 
Griscom.  Both  of  these  gentlemen  had  won  rec- 
ognition as  veteran  teachers  in  their  separate  fields 
of  labor,  both  having  been  gifted  with  the  power 
of  inspiring  the  young  with  a  desire  for  knowl- 
edge. Dr.  Griscom,  whose  style  of  dress  signal- 
ized his  Quaker  origin,  never  seemed  so  much  in 
his  glory  as  when  in  his  place  upon  the  platform, 
lecturing  on  chemistry  to  the  older  classes  of  the 
institute,   and   by   apt   experiments  —  as,    for   in- 


EDUCATIONAL   PERIOD.  59 

stance,  burning  iron  wire  in  oxygen  —  setting 
some  minds  on  fire  with  the  ambition  to  become 
scientists. 

Dr.  Barnes  also,  ratlier  tall  and  stately,  yet  of 
winning  manners,  possessed  the  art  of  putting 
liimself  into  communication  with  every  scholar, 
through  the  extemporized  talks  that  were  sug- 
gested by  passing  occasions.  At  the  sound  of  his 
silver  pocket-whistle  the  whole  roomful  became  to 
him  as  one  class ;  then  a  few  words  from  him 
would  supplement  the  lesson  teachings,  and  fix  the 
impression  of  clear  ideas  for  a  lifetime.  "  A  born 
teacher  "  himself,  he  had  been  trained  under  Presi- 
dent Nott,  and  was  graduated  from  Union  College 
with  honor  in  1809.  Thus  the  learned  Baptist 
and  the  gifted  Quaker,  whose  life-work  in  their 
separate  fields  of  action  had  pertained  to  the 
surroundings  of  our  school-life,  were  ultimately, 
toward  the  end  of  the  first  quarter  of  this  century, 
united  for  the  establishment  of  the  most  mao-nifi- 
cent  private  school  ever  seen  in  New  York  under 
individual  or  social  proprietorship.  In  this  part- 
nership, though  both  were  recognized  scientists. 
Dr.  Barnes  was  eminent  as  a  specialist  in  con- 
chology.  He  was  highly  appreciated.  When  Sir 
Charles  Lyell,  while  engaged  in  his  great  life-work 
of  reconstructing  the  science  of  geology,  first 
touched  the  American  shore  at  Boston,  he  went 


6o  LIFE   NOTES. 

immediately  from  the  ship  to  seek  the  leading  con- 
chologist,  Dr.  Augustus  A.  Gould,  as  a  guide  to 
the  first  steps  of  his  local  investigations ;  had  it 
been  possible  for  him  to  have  started  upon  his 
grand  errand  a  few  years  earlier,  and  had  he  then 
touched  this  continent  first  at  New  York,  he  would 
have  been  impelled  to  seek  another  as  a  concho- 
logical  assistant,  and  Avould,  it  is  likely,  have  found 
his  need  met  by  Dr.  Barnes,  whose  name  is  still  a 
cherished  memory.  Mitchell  and  Barnes  were 
"  true  yoke-fellows." 

ECCLESIASTICAL   AND   SOCIAL   ELE^IENTS. 

The  educational  surroundings  of  our  school-life 
embraced,  however,  not  only  literary  and  social, 
but  also  religious  and  ecclesiastical  elements. 
Representatives  of  all  creeds,  of  all  classes  of 
church-going  or  non-church-going  families,  were 
drawn  to  our  school  in  Chatham  Square  while  the 
century  was  yet  ''in  its  teens."  Thus  our  ac- 
quaintanceships took  wide  range.  One  of  my 
classmates  in  the  Latin  department  was  Isaac  A. 
De  Lima,  a  West-Indian  of  Jewish  stock,  sent  from 
home  to  New  York  to  prepare  for  Columbia  Col- 
lege, to  graduate,  to  pursue  a  medical  course  under 
Dr.  Valentine  Mott's  direction,  and  then  to  return 
for  professional  practice  to  Cura^oa.  While  carry- 
ing out  that   programme   he  was   my  companion 


EDUCATIONAL   PERIOD.  6 1 

much  of  the  time.  The  more  I  saw  of  him,  the 
more  highly  I  esteemed  him  for  his  manly  char- 
acter. As  he  was  making  his  home  with  the  family 
of  Mr.  Peixotto,  minister  of  the  synagogue,  I  was 
often  an  invited  guest  of  the  domestic  circle  and 
an  occasional  attendant  of  the  synagogue  in  Mill 
Street.  The  knowledge  thus  acquired,  and  the 
sympathies  awakened,  in  regard  to  the  most  culti- 
vated portion  of  the  Jewish  people,  has  ever  been 
to  me  a  matter  of  grateful  remembrance  ;  destroy- 
ing race  prejudice,  and  substituting  the  kindly 
hopefulness  that  is  at  once  a  source  of  happiness 
and  a  power  for  good. 

On  a  sunny  afternoon  of  the  autumn  of  1821, 
while  walking  witli  De  Lima  on  the  west  side  of 
Chatham  Square,  I  noticed  a  venerable  man.  Rev. 
John  Williams,  approaching  us,  and  said,  "  There 
is  my  minister !  "  I  supposed  that  my  companion 
would  step  aside  to  avoid  the  meeting,  when,  to 
my  surprise,  De  Lima  whispered,  "  I  like  his  looks : 
introduce  me."  The  miiiister's  countenance  and 
manner  had  won  him  at  a  glance ;  and  the  brief 
street-talk,  followed  by  a  visit  to  the  church  on 
Sunday,  and  that  by  a  decided  turn  toward 
enlarged  and  progressive  thought,  has  been  re- 
membered as  an  incident  somewhat  suggestive  of 
the  subtle  influences  that  often  become  effective 
factors  in  the  education  of  boyhood,  and  the 
ultimate  make-up  of  opinions  in  manhood. 


62  LIFE  AZOTES. 


CHURCH-LIFE    CHARACTERIZED. 

The  minister  just  now  mentioned  was  a  promi- 
nent figure  in  the  surroundings  of  our  school-life ; 
his  church  and  home  being  situated  in  our  imme- 
diate neighborhood,  only  five  minutes'  walk  from 
the  schoolroom.  It  was  not  on  this  account,  how- 
ever, that  I  had  been  led  to  recognize  the  relation 
denoted  by  the  phrase  "  my  minister."  The  Rev. 
John  Williams  (father  of  Rev.  William  R.  Wil- 
liams, D.D.,  of  New  York),  a  native  of  Wales, 
and  in  his  prime  of  manhood  an  accredited 
preacher  of  the  Congregationalists,  was  at  this 
time  the  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  in  Fayette 
Street  (now  Oliver  vStreet)  ;  its  membership  being 
largely  of  English  and  Welsh  origin,  and  remark- 
able for  its  great  proportion  of  men  substantial 
not  only  as  to  wealth,  but  also  as  to  character  and 
position.  At  the  period  of  their  history  when  I 
spoke  to  the  young  Jew  of  Mr.  Williams  as  "  my 
minister,"  I  had  been  drifted  into  the  centre  of 
their  social  circle  by  an  exceptional  course  of 
events.  These  men  were  all  profoundly  interested 
in  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  English  Baptist 
mission  in  India,  which  in  the  last  decade  of  the 
last  century,  under  the  administration  of  Rev. 
Drs.  Carey,  Marshman,  and  Ward,  had  attracted 
the    attention   of    Christian    people    everywhere. 


EDUCATIONAL    PERIOD.  63 

From  the  opening  of  the  present  century  my 
father  had  been  commanding  a  ship  in  the  India 
trade.  When  in  Calcutta,  though  not  a  church- 
member  himself,  he  had  put  his  hired  house  at 
the  service  of  Dr.  Carey  as  a  place  for  meeting 
Hindoo  merchants,  and  was  accustomed  to  spend 
a  portion  of  his  sabbaths  at  the  Mission  in  Seram- 
pore.^  His  arrivals  in  New  York,  therefore,  were 
looked  for  and  welcomed  by  the  leading  men  of 
the  Baptist  church  in  Oliver  Street ;  and  many  an 
evening  was  passed  at  the  hospitable  mansion  of 
John  Withington,  Esq.,  in  listening  to  the  news 
from  India  in  minute  and  lively  statements  that 
the  letters  could  not  convey.  Thus,  between 
these  parties  Avere  cherished  lifelong  habits  of 
social  intercourse ;  and  when,  in  succeeding  years, 
I  was  permitted  to  accompany  my  father,  I  found 
myself  within  a  circle  of  men  who  seemed  to  me 
the  best  and  happiest  social  gathering  that  I  had 
ever  seen.  Memory  recalls  spontaneously  their 
forms  and  features.  John  Cauldwell,  Thomas 
Hewitt,  Joshua  Gilbert,  Eliakim  Raymond, 
Thomas  Purser,  the  Colgates,  Bleeckers,  occasion- 
ally Matthew  Vassar  from  Poughkeepsie,  and 
others  who  were  associated  with  these  scenes  of 
home-life,    are    still    present    to   my   thought   as 

'  There  is  an  allusion  to  this  co-operation  in  Dr.  Carey's  printed  diary,  p. 
283  of  Memoir  by  Eustace  Carey.    Boston  :  Gould,  Kendall,  &  Lincoln,  1836. 


64  LTFE  NOTES. 

living  personalities.  No  wonder  that  during  those 
years  of  school-life  the  sabbath  worship  of  Oliver- 
street  Church  asserted  its  attractive  power. 

This  momentary  glance  back  to  the  social  life 
of  the  people  gathered  under  the  ministry  of  John 
Williams,  clearly  indicates  the  providential  educa- 
tion of  that  church  for  its  early  leadership  in  sus- 
taining the  missionary  work  in  India,  responsive 
to  the  call  sent  by  Adoniram  Judson  and  Luther 
Rice,  after  they  had  joined  the  church  at  Seram- 
pore,  to  unite  for  their  support  in  a  new  field  of 
work  in  Old  Asia,  at  the  centre  of  the  oldest 
heathenism.  Never  did  an  audience  gather  with 
more  curious  interest,  combined  with  profound 
emotion,  than  did  the  assembly  in  Oliver  Street, 
to  listen  to  the  narrative  and  appeal  of  Rev. 
Luther  Rice,  so  soon  returned  from  Lidia,  on  the 
Sunday  morning  that  followed  his  arrival  in 
America.  The  facts  stated  in  the  sermon  seemed 
vocal  with  a  cry  as  pathetic  as  that  which  reached 
the  ear  of  Paul  across  the  jEgean  Sea,  and  brought 
Christianity  over  from  Asia  into  Europe.  It  im- 
pelled to  action.  It  aroused  to  fresh  inquiry  the 
Christian  community  at  large,  and  has  been  utter- 
ing its  appeal  with  renewed  energy  through  the 
succeeding  years  of  the  century. 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  COL,   AARON  BURR.  65 


V. 

A  YOUNG   STUDENT'S   IMPRESSIONS   OF  COL.  AARON  BURR.i 
HISTORIC   QUESTIONINGS. 

During  the  latter  half  of  January,  1881,  while 
sojourning  in  Washington,  and  occasionally  visit- 
ing the  Capitol,  particularly  the  Senate  Chamber, 
in  company  with  a  few  friends,  the  historical  asso- 
ciations pertaining  to  our  surroundings  called 
forth,  in  the  free  flow  of  talk,  allusions  to  the 
early  days  of  the  American  Congress,  —  the  Presi- 
dency of  Thomas  Jefferson,  the  Vice-Presidency 
of  Col.  Aaron  Burr.  In  connection  with  the  men- 
tion of  the  latter  name,  several  facts  were  touched 
upon,  quoted  from  Mr.  James  Parton's  biography 
of  the  man,  illustrating  his  power  of  address ;  the 
ease  with  Avhich  he  could  put  himself  in  commu- 
nication with  people  of  every  class,  from  the  high- 
est to  the  lowest,  from  the  most  cultured  to  the 
rudest,  old  and  young  alike  ;  instinctively  quick  to 
adjust  himself,  as  to  thought,  tone,  and  manner, 

1  Read  before  the  New  York  Genealogical  and  Biographical  Society, 
March  25, 1S81. 


66  LIFE  AZOTES. 

to  any  personal  presence  whatsoever,  confident  in 
his  ability  to  win  responsive  feeling,  and  realize 
the  aim,  or  even  the  whim,  that  may  have  impelled 
him  at  the  time. 

The  conversation,  having  taken  tliis  turn,  evi- 
dently, as  it  went  on,  awakened  fresh  interest  in 
the  study  of  a  distinguished  character  that  had 
seemed  to  some  mysterious  and  almost  mythical. 
One  lady  there  present,  certainly  well  read  in 
general  history,  was  disposed  to  criticise  the  style 
of  those  statements  as  exaggerated;  quite  ready 
to  admit  the  exceptional  greatness  of  the  man  as 
a  born  ruler  of  men,  exemplified  especially  in  his 
last  address  as  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate, 
whereof  there  were  many  witnesses,  yet  ques- 
tioning the  affirmations  she  had  heard  as  to  the 
extent  of  his  regal  sway,  his  capability  of  univer- 
sal conquest,  despite  distinctions  of  age  and  class, 
wheresoever  the  way  was  open  for  his  genius 
to  assert  itself  as  "a  living  presence."  Then 
another  added,  with  an  emphasis  of  expression, 
"Why,  the  style  of  talk  about  Burr  that  I  have 
heard  from  some  old  Southern  gentlemen  sounds 
like  a  boy's  romancing,  rather  than  a  man's  plain 
story  of  what  he  had  seen  and  known  in  the 
matter-of-fact  Avorld  we  live  in." 

Thus  I  was  led,  when  alone  at  night,  thinking 
of  the  driftings  of  that  day's  talk,  recalling  my 


IMPRESSIONS   OF  COL.   AARON  BURR.  67 

own  personal  memories  of  Col.  Burr,  to  muse 
upon  the  curious  combination  or  fusion  of  incon- 
gruous influences  that  have  free  scope  in  ''the 
make-up  "  of  every  particular  individuality  of  the 
human  race.  One's  own  experience  may  vivify 
this  thought  to  his  own  consciousness  if  he 
chance  to  follow  it  out  in  reflective  or  retrospec- 
tive moods  of  mind.  How  few,  comparatively, 
have  apprehended,  much  less  comprehended,  the 
workings  of  all  the  conflicting  elements  in  con- 
stant play  throughout  the  changing  phases  of  in- 
ner life,  yet  all  unified  at  last  under  the  dominant 
sway  of  one  supreme  idea  or  ruling  principle ! 
Such  is  tlie  general  observation  then  recorded 
in  my  diary,  to  me  very  real  indeed,  as  if  I  were 
writing  it  in  the  real  presence  of  two  contem- 
porary contrasted  cliaracters,  called  up  at  my 
mind's  bidding  from  "  the  vasty  deep,"  both  at 
once  re-appearing,  not  seeing  each  other,  but  both 
greeting  me,  as  of  old,  in  contrasted  tone  and 
manner,  with  the  cheer  of  friendly  recognition. 

The  intervening  half-century  is  as  one  day ; 
for,  as  I  now  look  back  to  the  early  years  of  my 
academic  life  in  New  York,  where  I  was  in  the 
Avay  of  seeing  Col.  Burr,  for  successive  j^ears, 
twice  or  thrice  every  week,  at  the  liouse  of  an 
aged  relative  wliere  he  occupied  the  lower  front- 
room   as   a   law-office,  it   seems   to  myself  quite 


68  LIFE  NOTES. 

noteworthy  that  I,  so  young,  should  have  been 
so  thoroughly  captivated  as  by  the  spell  of  his 
genius  for  winning  social  sympathy;  admiring 
him  as  the  realization  of  an  heroic  ideal,  and  at 
the  same  time,  on  the  other  hand,  conscious  of 
an  attracting  force  put  forth  by  one  of  the  plain- 
est, most  simple-minded,  and  most  honest-hearted 
of  Christian  men,  Richard  Cunningham,  Esq., 
an  elder  of  the  Brick  Presbyterian  Church,  under 
the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Spring  while  that 
distinguished  minister,  who  kept  his  place  of 
eminence  for  more  than  a  half-century,  was  yet 
in  his  prime.  The  elder,  a  good  and  lovable 
man,  could  not  have  endured  the  companionship 
of  Col.  Burr  for  a  single  hour  without  a  keen 
sense  of  nervous  uneasiness,  so  little  had  they  in 
common,  particularly  after  the  public  feeling  had 
turned  so  mightily  against  the  slayer  of  Gen. 
Hamilton.  At  that  period,  my  father,  who  com- 
manded a  ship  in  the  India  trade,  disliked  the 
mere  presence  of  Col.  Burr ;  and  it  happened 
once,  that  when  Mr.  Bartow,  a  relative  of  my 
mother  and  also  of  the  Colonel,  called  in  company 
with  him  at  our  house,  my  father,  as  soon  as  the 
name  was  announced,  managed  to  take  himself 
out  of  the  way,  and  thus  refused  to  see  the  late 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  freely  speak- 
ing of  him   as  an  enemy  of  his  country,  and  a 


IMFRESSIOiVS   OF  COL.   A  A  RON  BURR.  69 

social  demoralizer  whom  good  society  should  dis- 
own. And  yet,  even  at  that  time,  enjoyiug  week 
by  week  the  freedom  of  opportunity  for  observa- 
tion allowed  to  a  schoolboy  in  a  recognized  family 
relationship,  the  charm  of  Burr's  manner  and 
conversation,  incidentally  in  the  law-office  or  in 
the  parlor,  was  felt  intensely  as  a  power  of  ex- 
traordinary attraction. 

Now,  I  may  safely  say,  that  if  Richard  Cun- 
ningham, Esq.,  whose  wife  and  my  mother  had 
grown  up  at  Pelham  a^  neighbors  in  a  relation 
like  that  of  sisterhood,  at  whose  city  home,  there- 
fore, I  was  a  frequent  visitor,  had  been  aware  of 
the  fact  that  I  have  here  recorded,  and  had  in- 
quired of  me  what  I  had  found  that  was  so  inter- 
esting in  the  presence  of  the  ex-Vice-President, 
who  had  "  lost  caste,"  as  Dr.  Spring  expressed  it, 
I  could  not  have  explained  the  matter  so  that  either 
he  or  his  minister  could  have  understood  it  at  all. 
Nevertheless,  viewing  it  retrospectively,  it  is  easy 
enough  here  to  set  it  forth  so  that  any  one  may 
discern  the  secret  of  personal  power,  or,  as  some 
have  called  it,  "magnetism,"  and  see  the  Colonel 
from  a  3'oung  student's  point  of  observation. 

WHERE   LAY   THE   SECRET   OF   THAT   POWER? 

To  this  end,  let  the  reader  picture  to  his  thought 
Old  New  York  as  it  was  more  than  a  half-century 


70  LIFE  NOTES. 

ago^  and  imagine  that  about  six  o'clock  p.m.  of  a 
November  day,  about  1821,  being  a  schoolboy  of 
thirteen,  having  delivered  my  mother's  message 
to  her  aunt,  Mrs.  Bartow,  an  aged  lady  of  seventy- 
five  (a  relative  by  marriage  to  Col.  Burr's  first 
wife,  nee  Theodosia  Bartow),  I  was  protracting 
my  stay  in  the  parlor  of  her  dwelling  in  Vesey 
Street,  with  the  expectation  that  the  Colonel 
would  come  in  very  soon,  as  was  his  wont,  to  take 
his  tea,  in  company  with  Mr.  Bernabue  Bartow, 
and  his  excellent  mother  {iiee  Ann  Pell),  whom 
Col.  Burr  could  not  but  venerate,  and  upon  Avhose 
sympathetic  kindness  he  recognized  a  degree  of 
dependence.  Imagine  lum  entering  the  parlor,  as 
I  recall  him,  at  a  moment  when  it  happened  that 
I  was  lingering  there  alone.  His  physicfie^  air, 
style  of  movement,  realize  a  boy's  highest  ideal  of 
the  soldier  and  the  gentleman ;  while  his  keen 
glance  and  sunny  smile,  expressive  of  a  personal 
interest  as  real  as  if  I  had  been  a  Senator,  awaken 
a  feeling  quickly  responsive  to  the  tone  of  cheer 
in  his  greeting,  "  Well,  Will,  I'm  glad  to  see  you. 
Have  they  left  you  alone  here  ?  " 

"Hardly,  Colonel.  Aunt  and  cousin  Bernie 
were  called  out  just  now.     They  will  be  in  soon." 

Approaching  the  sofa  where  I  had  been  reclin- 
ing, and  taking  up  a  school-book  that  lay  there, 
he   notices  the  titlepage  and  the  edition,  asking, 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  CO  I.   AARON  BURR.         7 1 

"  Is  it  your  way  to  be  carrying  Caesar's  '  Commen- 
taries '  about  with  you  ?  " 

"  No,  sir ;  but  I  have  evening  lessons.  And,  as 
I  have  not  been  home  since  school,  I  have  kept 
Csesar  with  me." 

"  How  far  have  you  read  ?  " 

"  Ui3  to  the  Bridge." 

From  this  incident  as  a  starting-point,  the  reader 
may  trace  in  thought,  as  far  as  fancy  can  serve 
him,  a  lively  talk  about  Julius  Csesar,  —  stories  of 
his  youth,  his  personal  appearance,  his  manner 
and  habits  of  life,  his  characteristics  as  a  Roman 
citizen,  a  soldier,  a  writer,  etc. ;  all  of  which  the 
Colonel  could  render  as  interesting  to  a  boy  as 
Sir  Walter  Scott's  word-pictures  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, or  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  in  ''Kenil- 
worth,"  —  a  book  that  occurs  to  memory  in  this 
connection,  because  it  happened  to  be  the  freshest 
of  the  "  Waverleys,"  that  everybody  was  reading 
or  talking  about  just  then. 

Here,  in  reminiscences  pertaining  to  school-days 
(taking  within  their  scope  two  men  notably  con- 
trasted, constantly  within  view,  and  present  to 
my  thought,  often  meeting  in  Old  New  York,  but 
never  interchanging  a  word  or  look  of  recogni- 
tion), I  trace  in  personal  experience  two  currents 
of  educational  influence  incessantly  active,  dis- 
tinct, and  different,  yet  coalescing   like  the   two 


72  LIFE  NOTES, 

contrasted  streams  of  Hebrew  and  Greek  thonght 
in  the  education  of  youth  throughout  England 
and  America.  A  similar  fusion  of  influences  in 
the  early  domestic  and  academic  life  of  the  only 
son  of  the  second  president  of  Princeton  College, 
and  grandson  of  the  third  president,  Jonathan 
Edwards,  may  be  traced  in  the  life-course  of  Aaron 
Burr,  who,  when  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  could  so  readily  carry  with  hijii  the  sympa- 
thies of  the  national  Senate  by  the  power  of  elo- 
quent address,  and  could  ever  move  with  equal 
ease  and  gracefulness  of  bearing  in  the  social 
circle,  in  the  festive  hall,  in  the  re-unions  of 
scholars,  writers,  and  scientists,  in  courts  of  law, 
upon  the  arena  of  political  conflict,  upon  the 
chosen  ground  of  the  duelist,  in  the  camp,  or  upon 
the  battle-field.  In  the  interior  life  of  Col.  Burr, 
the  Greek,  or  "  Gentile,"  element  dominated,  ulti- 
mately shaping  his  conceptions  and  ideals ;  so  much 
so,  that,  even  in  those  early  academic  days  to 
which  memory  now  reverts,  while  reading  parts  of 
Rollin's  "History,"  the  thought  would  suggest 
itself  that  we  saw  in  him  actually  the  ancient 
Stoic  and  the  primitive  Epicurean  fused  into  a 
live  unity.  Never  could  I  conceive  of  an  ancient 
Stoic,  in  the  palmiest  days  of  that  philosophy, 
more  fully  "possessing  himself,"  and  persistently 
imperturbable,  than   was   Aaron    Burr.     He   sur- 


IMPRESSIONS   OF  COL.   AAROA'  BURR.  73 

passed  Zeno  himself.  His  perfect  poise,  his  equa- 
nimity, his  power  of  endurance,  his  apparent 
superiority  to  all  changes  of  condition,  even  from 
affluence  to  a  poverty  that  he  could  dignify  like 
Diogenes,  who  stood  up  in  the  sunshine  so  royally 
as  the  peer  of  Alexander,  were  exceptionally  won- 
derful, seeming  almost  superhuman.  And  now, 
while  the  memory  of  those  fine  qualities  revives 
the  sympathetic  admiration  ever  called  forth  by 
his  personal  presence,  we  cannot  resist  the  sadden- 
ing thought,  that,  if  they  had  but  been  subordi- 
nated to  a  worthy  life-aim  of  sufficient  "  pith  and 
moment "  to  enkindle  the  enthusiasm  of  which  his 
gifted  nature  was  capable,  the  world  would  have 
recognized  a  style  of  heroism  that  it  would  grate- 
fully commemorate,  and  would  have  assigned  to 
him  a  place  in  history  upon  the  highest  plane  of 
"  representative  men." 

This  remarkable  power  of  self-possession,  an 
endowment  of  nature,  —  improved,  even  in  his 
college-days,  by  a  regulated  self-discipline,  —  was 
incidentally,  now  and  then,  a  topic  of  home-talk ; 
and  in  this  connection  it  was  a  familiar  observa- 
tion that  Col.  Burr  was  never,  throughout  all  his 
life,  in  the  least  disconcerted,  "except  once." 
Well  do  I  remember  the  day  when  I  asked  of  my 
mother  an  explanation  of  this  saying.  "  It  was 
during    his    sojourn    in    Paris,"    she    answered, 


74  LIFE   NOTES. 

"  where,  for  a  time,  he  felt  himself  liable  to  arrest. 
There,  while  walking  alone,  quite  willing  to  remain 
unnoticed,  he  was  surprised  by  the  quick,  sharp 
exclamation  of  a  stranger,  '  That's  the  man  I '  " 
The  Colonel  told  the  story  himself,  frankly  con- 
fessing his  exceptional  experience  of  a  nerve- 
tremor  and  a  heart-beat.  It  turned  out  that  the 
stranger  had  seen  the  portrait  of  Col.  Burr 
drawn  by  his  celebrated  pi-oter/S^  Vanderlyn  ;  and 
his  quick  recognition  of  the  likeness  startled 
him  into  a  mood  of  admiration  that  could  not 
but  express  itself  aloud  to  the  honor  of  the 
artist. 

At  the  time  here  noted.  Col.  Burr,  sojourning 
as  an  exile  in  the  French  capital,  to  which  his 
party  in  Congress  had  once  unanimously  agreed 
that  he  should  be  sent  to  reside  as  United  States 
Minister,  must  have  felt  himself  keenly  alive  to 
the  falseness  of  his  position,  out  of  all  normal 
relations  to  society ;  and  any  European  who  might 
have  made  his  acquaintance  just  then  would  have 
seen  him  not  "at  his  best,"  but  his  worst,  thus 
failing  to  get  a  just  impression  of  that  combination 
of  qualities  that  had  for  years  called  forth  from  all 
orders  of  people  the  most  curious  questionings  as 
to  the  possibilities  of  his  career.  Nevertheless, 
every  feature  of  his  physique  and  manner  indicated 
the  complete  self-control  which  is  always  sure  to 


IMPRESSIONS   OF  CO  I.   AARON  BURR.  75 

win  the  mastery  of  others.     Thus  it  had  been  from 
first  to  last.     At  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution- 
ary War,  nearly  a  year  before  the  declaration  of 
independence,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  enlisted  as 
a  volunteer  under  Gen.  Arnold  in  the  campaign  ' 
against  Quebec,  he  won  the  military  prestige  that 
a  veteran  iiiight  have  envied ;  then,  after  the  war, 
while  we  behold  liim  a  self-trained   student   and 
practitioner,  acquiring  pre-eminence  at  the  bar,  and, 
yet  in  early  manhood,  called  forth  and  idoHzed  as 
a  pohtical  leader  by  the  best  young  men  of  the 
nation,  we  feel  assured  that  we  have  before  us,  as 
a  study,  not  merely  a  personality  richly  gifted  by 
nature,  but  severely  self-disciplined  for  the  reali- 
zation of  a  well-defined  ideal,  ever  present  to  his 
thought  as  an  impelling  and  uplifting  power.     His 
conception  of  the  type  and  style  of  character  to 
be   realized   seems   not   to   have    been   given   by 
"heredity,"  but  formed  by  the  agency  of  moral 
causes  ;  a  strong  will  putting  forth  choices  of  its 
own,  as  if  consciously  a  creative  genius,  with  faitli 
in  the  maxim  that  "  a  man  makes  for  himself  the 
world  that  he  lives  in."     In  rendering  his  concep- 
tion of  manhood  actual,  he  was  as  minutely  par- 
ticular as  Lord  Chesterfield  (in  his  view,  a  typal 
character)  in  laying  down   rules  of  gentlemanly 
living  ;  not  disdaining,  in  his  intercourse  with  law- 
students,  to  emphasize  the  smallest  things  pertain- 


76  LIFE  NOTES. 

ing  to  conduct,  as,  for  instance,  by  the  reminder, 
''Remember,  sir,  no  gentleman  will  be  seen 
smoking  in  the  streets." 

TEMPORARY  REALIZATION  OF   IDEAL  HEROISM. 

That  reminder,  which  in  those  days  was  occa- 
sionally quoted  in  my  hearing,  is  associated  with 
memories  of  the  whole  aggregate  of  unpressions 
made  upon  my  mind,  during  the  period  of  my 
school-life  in  New  York,  by  Col.  Burr,  "as  a  living 
presence ; "  realizing  to  my  youthful  conception 
the  highest  type  of  cultured  manhood,  awakening 
an  intense  desu^e  to  appropriate  and  assimilate  the 
elements  of  manly  power,  of  which  he  was  ever 
before  me  as  the  most  complete  exponent.  The 
possibility  of  my  exemplifying  the  qualities  that  I 
so  keenly  appreciated  was  often  a  matter  of  serious 
questioning.  Under  his  care  at  that  time  was  a 
Spanish  lad,  Columbus,  occupied  as  an  office-boy, 
whom  I  was  always  glad  to  meet.  One  day,  while 
talking  with  him  in  front  of  the  house  in  Vesey 
Street,  the  Colonel  stepped  out  to  the  hall  door- 
way, in  order  to  give  the  boy  an  errand,  and  some 
particular  directions  as  to  the  manner  of  doing  it. 
As  soon  as  he  had  left  us,  and  closed  the  office-door, 
I  was  impelled  to  exclaim,  "  O  Columb !  isn't  he 
great  ?  A  perfect  gentleman !  You  could  tell 
he   was   a   born   soldier   if    you   had   never   seen 


IMPRESS/ONS   OF  COL.   AAROiV  BURR.  7/ 

him  before,  couldn't  you?"  To  this  Columb 
assented. 

The  incident  is  here  recalled  as  illustrating  the 
impression  of  the  moment.  That  and  like  impres- 
sions were  enduring.  I  can  truly  affirm,  that,  as 
a  matter  of  personal  experience,  throughout  the 
half-century  that  followed,  seldom,  if  ever,  have  I 
found  myself  tempted  to  give  way  to  impatience, 
to  anger,  to  peevishness,  to  the  abandonment  of 
self-control,  but  that  the  image  of  Col.  Burr  has 
risen  before  me  as  a  mentor,  rebuking  the  weak- 
ness, and  quickening  manly  resolution.  Even 
now,  in  similar  circumstances  under  the  spell  of 
such  a  temptation,  that  early  experience  would  be 
renewed,  and  the  soliloquizing  question  put: 
"Shall  I,  with  all  the  added  aid  of  a  Christian's 
faith,  fall  below  the  standard  of  self-mastery 
attained  by  one  whose  only  recognized  sense  of 
inspiration  was  a  '  common-sense  philosophy,'  — 
the  strength  of  a  gifted  and  cultivated  nature? 
What  a  miserable  and  pitiable  failure  that  would 
be!" 

In  connection,  however,  with  this  grateful  ac- 
knowledgment of  indebtedness  to  Col.  Burr  for 
influences  so  helpful  and  uplifting,  there  comes 
the  unwelcome  reflection,  that  his  life  regarded 
as  a  Avhole,  even  in  relation  to  his  own  cherished 
ideal,  was   a   disastrous  failure.     His  philosophy 


yS  LIFE   NOTES. 

proved  utterly  inadequate  to  meet  Ms  need  of 
self-regulating  power  at  the  cuhninating  point 
of  his  brilliant  career.  At  the  opening  of  this 
century,  in  his  manly  prime,  he  had  captivated 
the  nation  ;  he  had  won  its  heart ;  thrilled  it  with 
the  delight  of  a  hero-worship  that  seemed  but  a 
generous  enthusiasm.  Then  came  to  him  what 
comes  to  all  in  a  degree,  —  the  crucial  trial  of  the 
grounds  of  character,  the  one  great  temptation 
that  becomes  a  turning-point  of  history.  He  seems 
like  a  man  standing  upon  a  pinnacle,  "observed 
of  all  observers,"  —  beyond  the  reach  of  harm 
from  any  one  except  himself, — listening  to  the 
subtle  tempter  whispering,  "Cast  thyself  down," 
and  whispering,  too,  the  false  promise  of  power  to 
lift  himself  up  in  bedazzling  triumph  over  his 
enemies,  above  all  law,  human  or  divine.  Instead 
of  bidding  away  the  angel-like  fiend  that  assumed 
to  speak  as  the  champion  of  Honor,  he  yielded  to 
the  sway  of  "the  hour  and  power  of  darkness." 
In  his  latest  retrospect  of  life  he  must  have  caught 
a  glimpse  of  "  the  situation  "  as  we  see  it  now, 
when,  having  been  sympathetically  moved,  one 
afternoon,  by  hearing  readings  from  Sterne,  among 
them  the  story  of  "  Uncle  Toby  and  the  Fly,"  he 
was  heard  to  say  patheticall}^  "  Had  I  read  Vol- 
taire less,  and  Sterne  more,  I  might  have  thought 
the  world  wide  enough  for  Hamilton  and  me ! " 


IMPRESSIONS   OF  COL.   AARON  BURR.  79 

How  suggestive  was  that  expression  of  a  sad 
heart-story,  never  fally  told,  but  just  hinted  I 
Wliile  we  all  regret  his  great  mistake,  we  may 
trace  it  back  to  its  source,  chronologically  beyond 
the  period  when  Voltaire  overshadowed  Sterne,  to 
the  day  of  his  student-life  at  Princeton,  when  he 
sought  an  interview  with  the  fourth  president  of 
the  college,  Dr.  Witherspoon,  in  order  to  solicit 
his  opinion  as  to  the  proper  manner  of  treating 
the  extraordinary  religious  interest  in  progress 
just  then  among  all  classes  oP  the  undergraduates. 
To  the  good  Doctor,  thoroughly  familiar  with  tlie 
set  habitudes  of  a  Scotch  university,  moulded 
by  the  traditional  forms  of  the  State  Church,  this 
spontaneous  movement,  on  the  part  of  the  young 
men,  of  an  earnest  spirit  of  inquiry  not  com- 
prised within  the  prescribed  educational  curricu- 
lum^ was  of  a  sort  somewhat  new  and  strange.  He 
spoke  of  it  disparagingly ;  treated  it  as  an  outbreak 
of  fanaticism.  The  young  inquirer  acknowledged 
his  sense  of  relief  from  anxiety,  and  resolved  to 
ignore  the  movement,  or  resist  its  appeals.  This 
hostile  attitude  was  unhealthful ;  issued  in  a  set 
antipathy  that  modified  his  tastes,  his  choice  of 
books  or  favorite  readings,  his  associations,  his 
decisions,  and  the  trend  of  his  life-course.  If  tlie 
fourth  president  of  Princeton  had  been  as  well 
qualified  to  "  understand  his  times  "  as  have  been 


80  LIFE   NOTES. 

his  successors,  especially  the  eminent  Christian 
philosopher  of  our  own  time,  who  also  crossed  the 
Atlantic  to  take  the  same  presidential  chair,  he 
would  surely  have  emphasized  in  some  way  the 
sentiment  sounded  forth  by  Thomas  Carlyle  in 
interpreting  the  story  of  young  Oliver  Cromwell 
at  the  like  crisis  of  his  inner  life,  heart-trouble, 
and  deliverance,  thus :  "  Certaiiily  a  grand  epoch 
for  a  man,  —  properly  the  one  epoch,  the  turning- 
point  which  guides  upward  or  guides  downward. 
him  and  his  activity  for  evermore.  Wilt  thou  join 
the  dragons  ?  Wilt  thou  join  the  gods?  Of  thee, 
too,  the  question  is  asked,  whether  by  a  man  in 
Genevan  gown,  by  a  man  of  four  surplices  at  All- 
Hallowtide,  with  words  very  imperfect,  or  by  no 
man  and  no  words,  but  only  by  the  silences,  by 
the  eternities,  by  the  life  everlasting,  the  death 
everlasting."  Would  that  some  such  Carlylean 
oracle  had  been  whispered  in  the  ear  of  the  presi- 
dent of  Princeton  in  time  for  the  critical  hour  of 
liis  pupil's  exigency,  and  imparted  the  fitting  tone 
of  response  to  the  call  of  an  inquiring  spirit ! 

THE   TESTED   FRIENDSHIP. 

After  the  summer  of  1824,  absence  from  the 
city  of  New  York  during  the  period  of  collegiate 
and  professional  studies,  and  then  the  establish- 
ment of  my  home  in  Boston,  allowed  me  but  few 


IMPRESSIONS   OF  COL.   AARON  BURR.  8 1 

opportunities  of  personal  interviews  with  Col. 
Burr;  hearing  from  him  occasionally,  however, 
through  mutual  relatives  and  friends.  Through- 
out the  years  of  his  residence  in  Vesey  Street, 
which  Mr.  Parton  has  not  particularized,  he  en- 
joyed, to  a  degree,  the  sympathies  and  comforts  of 
family-life ;  and  afterward,  death  having  invaded 
that  home-circle,  his  office  was  removed,  and  he 
lived,  for  the  most  part,  alone  within  it.  His 
physical  energy  was  wonderfully  sustained  until 
the  year  1830,  when  he  was  suddenly  smitten  by 
paralysis  of  the  right  side.  As  soon  as  the  intel- 
ligence reached  his  cousin,  Mrs.  Hawes  {riee 
Catharine  Bartow),  she  hastened  from  her  resi- 
dence in  Brooklyn  to  visit  him  in  his  office,  then 
on  the  corner  of  Gold  and  Fulton  Streets.  His 
physician  and  several  friends  were  there,  and  the 
experiment  of  electrical  application  was  going  on. 
He  expressed  his  wish  to  Mrs.  Hawes  that  he 
might  be  removed  to  her  home,  and  be  under  her 
care.  Mr.  Edwards,  one  of  the  company,  imme- 
diately took  an  opportunity  to  say  to  Mrs.  Hawes, 
with  a  look  of  anxiety,  "  He  is  not  in  a  fit  condi- 
tion to  be  removed;  and  it  will  excite  him  too 
much,  just  now,  to  talk  about  it.  As  there  is  a 
coach  at  the  door,  perhaps  you  had  better  avail 
yourself  of  it,  and  take  leave  of  him  for  the 
present."      Mrs.    Hawes    returned    to    Brooklyn. 


82  LIFE  NOTES. 

But  the  strong-willed  man  had  his  way  erelong. 
On  the  day  following,  a  coach  containing  the 
Colonel,  and  two  strong  men  as  attendants,  who 
had  arranged  a  mattress  and  pillows  for  his  sup- 
port, arrived  at  the  dwelling  of  Mrs.  Ilawes,  wlio, 
hastening,  in  her  surprise,  to  greet  him,  was  hailed 
by  his  salutation  in  an  exultant,  joyous  tone, 
''Cousin  Katie,  I  told  you  that  you  must  take 
care  of  me  now."  It  was  so.  He  was  cordially 
welcomed.  The  sickness  did  not  prove  to  be,  as 
had  been  expected,  his  last.  A  few  weeks'  assidu- 
ous care  on  the  part  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hawes, 
encouraging  him  with  their  help  to  rise,  and,  by 
gentle  exercise  in  the  parlor,  to  learn  to  walk 
again,  repeating  the  process  at  a  set  hour  daily 
for  a  month,  restored  the  old  warrior,  so  that  he 
resumed  his  office  business  with  as  keen  a  zest  as 
ever.  Although  he  had  passed  "the  border-line 
of  threescore  and  ten,"  his  interest  in  the  details  of 
professional  work  had  not  flagged  ;  the  changes 
wrought  by  time  had  not  touched  his  brain ;  and 
the  tone  of  his  mind,  thus  marvellously  kept  up, 
rendered  his  work  a  kind  of  rejuvenation.  At 
the  same  time,  despite  all  faults,  sorrows,  "loss 
of  caste,"  abandonment  by  society,  he  never  lost 
faith  in  the  genuineness  of  unselfish  friendship,  or 
his  power  to  win  and  keep  it ;  and  never,  we  may 
safely  say,  has  history  shown  us  the  example  of  a 


IMPRESS/O.VS   OF  COL.   AARON  BURR.  83 

man  whose  experiences  of  adversity  more  fully 
proved  that  the  love-poAver  is  a  reality,  and  that 
real  love  is  a  deathless  principle. 

LIMITATION   OF   ETHICS   AND  ESTHETICS. 

Among  the  reflections  suggested  by  the  review 
of  a  life-course  so  marked  by  contrasted  changes 
and  interesting  episodes,  there  comes  to  us  one 
that  is  somewhat  startling ;  namely,  this :  the 
ethical  and  aesthetic  lessons  inculcated  by  mor- 
alists in  their  analyses,  summings-up,  and  final 
judgments  of  his  career,  had  been  anticipated  by 
Aaron  Burr  himself  in  the  papers  that  he  had 
written  and  read  as  "  compositions "  in  the  years 
of  his  college-life  at  Prhiceton.  Therein  he  has 
set  forth  a  high  ideal  of  character  and  purpose. 
That  fine  ideal  was,  in  the  main,  actually  realized 
in  his  own  family-life  as  husband,  father,  edu- 
cator, and  companion.  From  the  day  of  his  mar- 
riage to  Mrs.  Theodosia  Prevost  {nee  Bartow)  to 
the  day  of  her  departure  from  earth,  no  household 
of  any  public  man  in  America  that  we  have  any 
account  of,  as  to  its  interior  relations,  could  show 
a  more  beautiful  exemplification  of  a  pure  and 
happy  home.  To  her,  though  older  than  himself, 
he  had  been  attracted  by  qualities  of  mind  and 
heart  that  not  only  won  his  love,  but  commanded 
his   admiration.     Their  correspondence  betrays  a 


84  LIFE  NOTES. 

profound  congeniality  of  sentiment  and  intellec- 
tual kinship  of  the  highest  order ;  so  that  in  her 
he  recognized  a  woman  to  whom  he  could  look  up 
as  a  superior  representative  of  her  sex,  realizing 
his  own  cherished  ideal  of  true  womanhood. 
Trust  is  the  basis  of  love,  and  his  trust  in  her 
was  all  but  boundless.  He  honored  her  judg- 
ment when  it  differed  from  his  own,  appreciating 
its  frank  expression.  Writing  of  her,  before  the 
time  of  their  marriage,  he  said  she  could  talk  of 
books,  of  Voltaire,  Rousseau,  Chesterfield,  "  could 
appreciate  those  authors,  without  becoming  their 
disciple."  In  accordance  with  this  statement,  we 
notice  that  in  one  of  her  letters  to  him,  in  1781, 
referring  to  Lord  Chesterfield,  she  says,  *^  The  in- 
dulgence you  applaud  in  that  author  is  the  only 
part  of  his  writings  that  I  think  reprehensible." 
At  the  same  time,  referring  to  the  subject  of  reli- 
gion in  its  personal  relations,  she  declared  that 
worlds  should  not  purchase  the  little  she  pos- 
sessed. In  all  their  communications,  we  trace  a 
sense  of  mutual  indebtedness.  She  admired  his 
type  and  style  of  manliness.  In  1781  we  observe 
his  saying  to  her,  in  familiar  pen-talk,  "  That  mind 
is  truly  great  which  can  bear  with  equanimity  the 
trifling,  and  unavoidable  vexations  of  life,  and  be 
affected  only  by  those  events  which  determine  our 
substantial  bliss."     They  were  mutual  helpers  in 


lAfPRESSIONS   OF  COL.   AARO.V  BURR.  85 

their  life-battle.  Years  after  her  death,  while  we 
hear  him  saying,  as  was  his  wont,  "  The  mother  of 
my  Theodosia  was  the  best  woman  and  the  finest 
lady  I  have  ever  known,"  we  feel  assured  that  her 
loss  could  not  be  supplied  by  any  human  substitu- 
tion. He  needed  not  only  her  companionship,  but 
a  kindred  religious  principle  as  a  regulating  force. 
Had  that  distinguished  woman  lived,  in  full  pos- 
session of  her  queenly  powers,  a  few  years  longer, 
and  been  with  him  as  his  "guardian  angel"  at  the 
critical  point  of  his  life-trial,  he  might  have  come 
forth  from  it  wearing  the  laurel  of  moral  conquest, 
and  exemplified  the  ancient  saying,  "  He  that  is 
slow  to  anger  is  better  than  the  mighty ;  and  he 
that  ruleth  his  spirit  than  he  that  taketh  a  city." 

The  biography  of  Col.  Burr,  by  James  Parton, 
has  been  widely  welcomed  as  a  contribution  of 
permanent  value,  not  only  to  American  literature, 
but  to  world-history.  Its  achievement  was  an  im- 
portant part  of  his  "mission."  Had  he  passed 
away  without  undertaking  it,  the  lack  could  never 
have  been  supplied.  Although  his  readers  may 
differ  from  him  occasionally  as  to  sentiments  in- 
cidentally expressed,  we  recognize  throughout  the 
skill  of  the  artist  and  the  fidelity  of  the  conscien- 
tious historian.  During  the  closing  years  of  Col. 
Burr,  to  the  last  day  of  his  life,  Sept.  14,  1836, 
the  heroic  elements  pertaining  to  his  gifted  nature 


S6  LIFE  NOTES. 

were  still  in  lively  play ;  and  ]\Ir.  Parton's  word- 
pictures  are  so  clear  and  truthful,  that  the  reader 
who  still  remembers  the  subject  of  the  narrative 
as  a  living  personality  is  impelled  by  agreeable 
surprises  to  soliloquize  aloud,  like  the  stranger 
who  had  beheld  the  portrait  by  Vanderlyn,  "  That's 
the  man ! " 

From  different  quarters  objections  have  been 
urged  against  Mr.  Parton's  treatment  of  his  sub- 
ject as  a  fanciful  style  of  portraiture,  investing  an 
essentially  defective  character  with  a  halo  that 
renders  it  attractive  and  even  fascinating  to  youth- 
ful minds,  when  it  should  have  been  his  aim 
rather  to  dispel  its  charm,  and  render  it  repulsive. 
Such  criticisms  are  quite  superficial.  A  biogra- 
phy is  not  a  novel.  In  a  work  of  fiction  a  writer 
may  create  his  characters,  but  a  writer  of  history 
deals  with  facts.  If  the  biographer  had  repre- 
sented Col.  Burr  in  any  other  light  than  as  a 
mightily  attractive  personality,  his  book  would 
have  been  untruthful  and  morally  valueless.  A 
volume  was  not  needed  to  warn  any  one  against 
the  fatal  issues  of  a  life  utterly  destitute  of  any 
element  of  excellence  to  love,  honor,  or  admire ; 
but  to  demonstrate  by  a  great  example  that  a 
character  may  be  eminent  for  virtues  that  com- 
mand the  homage  of  a  nation,  and  yet  fail  as  to 
the  realization  of  the  chief  end  of  life,  for  lack  of 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  COI.   AARON  BURR.         8/ 

a  supreme  moral  principle  ruling  within,  at  the 
very  centre  of  one's  being,  is  to  set  forth  the  one 
primary  lesson  that  our  times  call  for,  and  Avorthy 
of  being  issued  in  new  and  improved  editions,  for 
the  sake  of  ''  the  generations  to  come." 


88  LIFE  NOTES. 


VI. 

EDUCATIONAL   PERIOD. 
CRITICAL  POINT   OF   AN   EDUCATIONAL  COURSE. 

While  tracing  the  course  of  school-life  in  Old 
New  York  along  the  first  quarter  of  this  century, 
the  early  entrance  of  boys  upon  the  college  curric- 
idum  seems  noteworthy  as  a  feature  of  the  time. 
The  trend  that  way  had  been  set  somewhat  by 
the  classical  teachers  from  the  universities  of 
Great  Britain.  It  was  not  uncommon  for  boys 
to  make  a  beginning  with  the  Latin  Grammar  at 
nine  years  of  age,  and  then  at  a  little  over  twelve 
to  present  themselves  at  the  chapel  of  Columbia 
College,  Park  Place,  to  pass  an  examination  for 
entrance  into  the  Freshman  class.  Although  it 
may  have  been  said  that  the  normal  age  for  en- 
trance w^as  fourteen,  "the  boys  of  twelve  "  seemed 
to  consider  themselves  in  regular  order  as  candi- 
dates, and  approached  the  ordeal  with  an  air  of 
self-reliance,  as  if  ''masters  of  the  situation." 

Looking  back  to  the  educational  methods  of 
that  time  from  the  stand-point  of  the  present,  we 


EDUCATIONAL    PERIOD.  89 

note  many  changes  for  the  Letter ;  but  in  this 
particuhir  connection  the  feeling  of  contrast  as- 
serts itself  in  irrepressible  exclamations  of  wonder 
over  this  relic  of  old  scholastic  custom.  What  a 
torturing  trial  of  body  and  soul  that  was !  It 
does  seem  now,  indeed,  as  if  the  whole  arrange- 
ment had  been  contrived  by  ancient  schoolmen  to 
overawe  the  youthful  aspirants  by  the  solemnity 
of  their  surroundings.  In  the  centre  of  the  chapel 
was  a  platform  large  enough  to  hold  a  chair  placed 
before  a  table  containing  all  the  books  then  re- 
quired. Along  the  southern  side  of  the  room 
were  ranged  the  candidates  for  admission  from 
the  various  preparatory  schools  ;  on  the  northern 
side  were  seated  their  school-fellows  and  friends 
to  witness  their  trial;  while  at  the  western  end 
were  arrayed  the  robed  Faculty,  suggesting  the 
judicial  dignity  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  On  the  occasions  which  we  re- 
member, though  the  venerable  President  Harris 
was  in  his  place,  the  examination  was  mainly  con- 
ducted by  Professor  Charles  Anthon,  LL.D. ;  and 
he  performed  his  part  con  amove.  Of  course,  the 
scholars  had  all  been  told  by  their  teachers  that 
they  were  "well  prepared;"  and  no  doubt  they 
had  good  reason  to  think  so.  Each  one  in  turn 
mounted  the  platform  courageously;  but  when 
once  there,  alone,  "  the  observed  of  all  observers," 


90  LIFE  NOTES. 

confronting  such  a  solemn  Inquisition,  the  situa- 
tion seemed  quite  new :  and  tlien,  just  at  the 
point  where  any  close  questioning  was  started, 
demanding  the  boy's  whole  attention  to  the  matter 
in  hand,  we  have  seen  more  than  one  who  had 
"  never  known  fear "  lose  his  self-command,  and 
break  down  suddenly,  with  no  power  of  expres- 
sion but  the  irrepressible  tear,  so  tenderly  vocal 
with  surprise  and  disappointment.  To  the  honor 
of  the  Faculty,  how'ever,  be  it  said  that  they  re- 
membered their  own  experiences,  and  seldom 
failed  to  make  proj^er  allowances  for  such  inci- 
dental weaknesses,  so  that  no  boy  was  put  back 
for  the  mere  heredity  of  nervousness.  In  fact, 
the  whole  corps  of  teachers  who  sent  the  candi- 
dates in  those  days  were  trusted  men,  and  the 
professors  generally  treated  their  certificates  or 
judgments  of  scholarship  with  profound  respect. 

INTERVAL  BETWEEN  ACADE:MY  AND  COLLEGE. 

It  w^as  at  this  stage  of  our  educational  course, 
in  the  year  1820,  that  I  was  separated  from  the 
companionship  of  the  classmates  with  whom  I  had 
been  prepared  for  Columbia  College.  My  father 
was  unwilling  that  I  should  enter  upon  the  four 
years'  curriculum  of  the  college  at  twelve,  or  even 
thirteen,  years  of  age.  He  had  thought  out  a  defi- 
nite programme  for  my  future,  and  had  awakened 


EDUCATIONAL   PERIOD.  9 1 

on  my  part  a  sympathetic  interest  in  following  it 
out.  It  was  his  wish,  for  himself,  after  a  full  third 
of  a  century's  experience  in  ploughing  the  deep,  to 
turn  to  the  ploughing  of  the  land,  and  to  make  a 
change  from  city  life  to  a  home  in  the  country. 
In  order  to  gain  time  for  deliberate  choice  before 
purchasing  a  farm  in  New  Jersey,  he  hired  the 
parsonage  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Paramus,  at  the  time  unoccupied  by  the  pastor. 
Rev.  Dr.  Wilhelmus  Elting,  who  was  then  residing 
upon  his  own  home-farm  in  Aquackonouck.  At 
the  same  time  he  arranged  for  me  a  year's  resi- 
dence in  New  York  at  the  home  of  a  widowed 
relative,  Mrs.  Joseph  Bayley,  in  order  that  I  might 
carefully  review,  under  the  special  teaching  of 
Mr.  John  Walsh,  the  ground  I  had  already  gone 
over,  and  thus  acquire,  as  it  was  hoped,  the  habit 
of  self-direction  in  study.  In  this  connection  he 
disclosed  his  projected  course ;  namely,  that  during 
the  year  1822  I  should  have  a  regular  practice  of 
farm-work  at  Paramus ;  that  in  1823  I  should  take 
a  four  months'  trip  to  England  with  him,  and 
then,  returning  at  the  close  of  that  year,  resume 
my  course  of  studies  at  Paramus,  availing  myself 
of  the  aid  of  a  resident  instructor,  Mr.  Simeon 
Zabriskie,  especially  apt  in  teaching  arithmetic, 
algebra,  and  geometry,  with  the  view  of  entering 
college  in  1824,  a  year  and  a  half  in  advance. 


93  LIFE   NOTES. 

Tliis  planning  was  carried  out  to  the  letter.  Thus 
my  interval  between  academy  and  college  em- 
braced three  years'  intermingling  of  farm-work, 
foreign  travel,  and  self-directed  study. 

THE   farm;    the   church   AND   ITS   PREACHER. 

The  projected  change  from  the  city  to  the  coun- 
try was  a  lively  contrast.  There  was  the  charm 
of  novelty  ;  there  was  also  the  sense  of  responsi- 
bility pertaining  to  the  charge  of  the  farm  during 
my  father's  absence  on  business  in  the  city.  The 
surroundings  were  very  pleasant.  Paramus  was 
originally  a  settlement  of  well-to-do  farmers,  of 
Holland  stock,  growing  wealthier  every  year  by 
honest  gains  ;  for,  as  yet,  the  town  had  never  seen 
a  poor  person,  dependent  upon  charity,  within  its 
borders.  Tlie  people's  home-talk  was  Dutch  as 
much  as  English,  and  the  preaching  of  Dr.  Elting 
was  in  Dutch  every  alternate  Sunday  service. 

The  Doctor  was  then  in  his  prime,  and,  whether 
speaking  in  Dutch  or  English,  was,  as  to  style  of 
thought  and  manner,  plain,  conversational,  argu- 
mentative, earnest.  In  rising  to  address  us,  he 
always  looked  at  us  directly,  as  if  kindly  intent 
upon  communicating  something  that  had  interested 
liimself,  and  so  won  us  at  once.  Thus  it  was,  in- 
deed, as  a  matter  of  experience  on  a  beautiful  Sun- 
day morning  in  June,  1823,  when  I  entered  the 


EDUCATIONAL   PERIOD.  93 

old  Paramus  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  in  a 
state  of  entire  indifferentism  as  to  the  whole  range 
of  subjects  appropriate  to  the  day  and  the  place. 
On  that  day,  however,  Dr.   Elting  was   "at  his 
best,"  as  if  under  some   exceptional  inspiration. 
He  drew  his  text  from   Christ's  valedictory  dis- 
course   (John  XV.  22,   "If  I  had   not   come  and 
spoken  unto  them,  they  had  not  had  sin :  but  now 
they  have  no  cloak  for  their  sin  "),  and  proceeded 
to  set  forth,  as   a   characteristic    of  the  jNIaster's 
preaching,  his  method  of  appealing  to  every  soul 
individually  by  a  direct  testimony,  presenting  him- 
self as  a  divine  teacher  and  Saviour,  calling  upon 
each  to  do  one  of  two  things :  either  to  prove  that 
testimony  to  be  false,  or  treat  it  as  true  by  a  free 
act  of  choice  in   a  personal  self-surrender.     Em- 
phasizing that  idea,  he  affirmed  that  this  free  act 
of  self-surrender  to  Christ,  in  answer  to  his  call, 
puts  the  soul  into  a  new  relation  to  him,  and  in 
this  decisive  choice  one   "becomes  a  Christian." 
This  act  of  faith  on  the  part  of  the  soul  is  just  as 
intelligible,  just  as  simple,  as  was  the  poor  leper's 
act  of  faith  in  regard  to  his  body  (Matt.  viii.  1-3)  ; 
placing  it  before  Christ  for  healing,  and  thus  com- 
ing; at  once  into  the  new  relation  of  a  patient  to 
the  divine  Physician.     There  is  no  puzzling  mys- 
ticism here.     Did  not  that  sick  man  act  ration- 
ally?    Would  you  not  have  gladly  done  as  he  did 


94  LIFE  NOTES. 

under  like  circumstances  ?  In  offering  one's  own 
soul  to  Christ,  responsive  to  his  invitation,  the 
intellect,  heart,  and  conscience  act  in  unity,  freely- 
yielding  to  the  highest  possible  motive  of  action  ; 
namely,  the  loving  appeal  of  the  Saviour  in  "  lay- 
ing down  his  life,  of  himself,"  a  sacrifice  for  us, 
as  he  did  when  he  let  sin  have  its  own  way  in 
putting  him  to  death  upon  the  cross  of  Calvary, 
and  thus  showed  forth  "  the  exceeding  sinfulness 
of  sin  "  in  man  when  left  to  act  itself  out  accord- 
ing to  its  essential  nature.  Now,  a  human  being, 
conscious  of  sin,  accepting  him  as  the  self-sacri- 
ficing Son  of  God,  having,  as  he  proclaimed, 
"  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sin,"  in  that  very  act 
joins  with  Jesus  in  "  condemning  sin  "  (as  Paul's 
expression  is  in  Rom.  viii.  3),  rejects  at  once  all 
other  sacrifices  or  offerings  of  merit  in  the  way  of 
atonement,  enters  into  a  new  relation  with  God, 
based  upon  a  new  groundwork  of  present  accept- 
ance, and  so,  by  this  act  of  faith,  or  sympathetic 
union  with  Christ,  becomes  identified  with  him  in 
the  realization  of  "eternal  life,"  through  and  with 
him,  "the  heir  of  all  things."  This  change  of 
relation  is  a  real  salvation  for  both  worlds  ;  because 
the  subject  of  it,  "  having  now  received  the  atone- 
ment," recognizes  within  himself  a  grateful  love 
to  the  self-sacrificing  Redeemer,  that  is  of  itself  a 
neiv  power^  "working  in  him  to  will  and  to  do," 


EDUCATIONAL   PERIOD.  95 

and  insuring  nltimate  victory  in  the  long  conflict 
with  evil.  In  the  delivery  of  this  discourse  the 
doctor  seemed  to  speak  with  an  unwonted  and 
touching  earnestness.  To  one,  at  least,  in  that 
audience  the  Christianity  of  the  New  Testament 
disclosed  itself  in  an  aspect  of  simplicity  unrec- 
ognized before ;  namely,  a  revelation  of  divine 
love,  creating  a  responsive  love  in  the  human  soul 
as  a  new  vital  force  :  so  that,  before  the  sun  set  on 
that  day,  there  was  realized  the  consciousness  of  a 
new  love  as  a  motive-power  within,  of  a  new  rela- 
tion to  the  kingdom  of  Christ  on  earth,  and  a  new 
life-aim  that  marked  a  turning-point  of  personal 
history. 

From  that  day  to  this  I  have  never  spoken  or 
written  the  name  of  Wilhelmus  Elting,  D.D., 
without  a  profound  sense  of  indebtedness. 

TRAVELLING  REGARDED  AS  EDUCATIONAL. 

The  four  months'  visit  to  England  in  company 
with  my  father,  already  alluded  to,  though  not 
thought  of  at  first  as  part  of  an  educational  pro- 
gramme, proved  itself,  as  it  now  seems,  a  factor 
of  some  worth  educationally.  In  this  direction 
it  was  more  effective,  probably,  than  a  "rapid 
transit "  over  the  continent  of  Europe,  in  the  style 
of  modern  tourists,  could  have  been  made.  We 
travelled  leisurely,  enjoyed  the  top  seats  of  the 


96  LIFE   notes: 

old-fasliionecl  stage-coach,  and  took  time  enough  to 
reconnoitre  the  places  and  objects  of  the  highest 
historical  interest.  Every  acre  of  English  ground 
has  something  to  tell  that  is  worth  hearing,  and 
the  period  of  boyhood  is  the  time  set  to  listen. 
This  remark  is  verified  by  a  glance  at  the  journal 
of  those  days,  retained  still  in  a  condition  readable 
to  the  writer.  The  diary  of  a  boy  traveller  is  a 
unique  sort  of  thing,  pertaining  exclusively  to  its 
own  season  ;  and  the  like  of  it  cannot  be  afterward 
produced  for  love  or  money.  What  a  variety  of 
minute  details,  items  of  curious  interest,  the  exact 
figuring  of  dimensions,  trifles  "  not  worth  noting  " 
that  become  signihcant  by  their  connections,  things 
that  the  college  graduate  would  never  have  seen, 
are  recalled  with  interest  from  the  journal  of  the 
schoolboy  !  They  all  turn  out  to  be  of  use  at  some 
time,  and  acquire  historical  worth,  at  any  rate. 
The  quickening  of  an  interest  in  history  is  of  itself, 
in  part,  an  education.  The  dullest  will  be  stirred 
by  the  object-lessons  given  even  by  untrained 
teachers.  "  Take  this  hatchet  in  your  hand ; 
observe  its  long  blade  ;  feel  its  edge.  When  I  tell 
you  what  it  is,  you  will  remember  it  all  your  life," 
said  the  portly,  good-natured  guide  through  the 
Tower  of  London.  "  Well,  what  is  it  ?  "  —  "  It  is 
the  instrument  with  which  the  beautiful  Queen 
Anne  Boleyn  was  beheaded."     The  cicerone  was 


EDUCATIONAL   PERIOD.  97 

right :  memory  rej^eats  the  thrill  of  horror  even 
now,  and  vivifies  one's  conceptions  of  court-life  in 
the  time  of  Henry  VIII. 

In  this  connection  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  any 
American  schoolboy  travelling  through  England 
in  1823  would  become  somewhat  educated  practi- 
cally to  an  appreciation  of  the  study  of  American 
as  well  as  of  English  history ;  for  the  main  ques- 
tion that  is  still  agitating  the  country  was  then  the 
subject  of  earnest  talk  everywhere,  —  in  parlors, 
shops,  and  counting-rooms  alike,  —  namely,  the 
tariff.  In  that  year  the  spirit  of  discussion  was  at 
its  highest;  every  Englishman  was  well  assured 
that  America  would  see  that  it  was  her  true  policy 
to  content  herself  with  furnishing  raw  material, 
and  buying  her  manufactured  goods.  It  was  so 
plain  a  case  as  to  leave  but  little  ground  iox  doubt 
touching  the  issue.  To  their  astonishment,  the 
next  year,  1824,  came  the  American  tariff;  and  to 
the  astonishment  of  many  now,  the  same  question 
agitates  both  nations,  while  the  same  arguments 
are  repeated  by  another  generation  about  as  far 
as  ever  from  any  unity  of  doctrine  that  dictates 
the  policy  of  the  future. 


98  LIFE  NOTES, 


VII. 

EDUCATIONAL  PERIOD  CONTINUED. 
COLLEGE-LIFE. 

The  six  years  of  New  York  school-life  already 
traced,  pertained  to  a  period  of  transition :  Old 
New  York  then  actually  passed  away,  and  Mod- 
ern New  York  entered  upon  its  national  and 
cosmopolitan  career.  The  Erie- Canal,  connecting 
the  waters  of  our  Mediterranean  Seas  with  the 
Atlantic,  —  though  its  completion  was  not  sig- 
nalized by  public  celebration  until  1825,  —  had 
become,  despite  the  most  deadly  political  antago- 
nism, generally  recognized  as  the  great  historical 
fact  of  the  time  three  or  four  years  before  the 
close  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  century ;  even  as 
early  as  1820,  when  Col.  William  L.  Stone  assumed 
the  editorship  of  "The  Commercial  Advertiser," 
and  made  it  the  organ  of  a  new  political  party 
known  as  "the  Clintonians."  Around  DeWitt 
Clinton  as  their  leader  that  party  rallied  with 
enthusiasm,  and  the  great  project  which  they  cham- 
pioned successfully  exerted  a  subtile  influence  upon 


EDUCATIONAL   PERIOD    CONTINUED.  99 

the  conceptions  of  every  New  York  schoolboy, 
who  could  now  understand  that  "  the  city  of  his 
habitation "  was  no  longer  to  be  distinguished 
mainly  as  the  commercial  capital  of  the  Hudson- 
river  Valley,  but  as  the  metropolis  of  the  Empire 
State.  The  idea  was,  of  itself,  as  a  new  guiding 
light  in  the  line  of  forecasting  thought ;  investing 
the  whole  interior  beyond  the  MohaAvk,  from 
Schenectady  to  Utica,  thence  to  Buffalo  and 
Niagara,  with  a  fresh  glow  of  romantic  interest. 

THE   EDUCATIONAL   TREND   WESTWARD. 

This  connection  of  events  and  turn  of  public 
thought  shaped  the  educational  plans  of  a  number 
of  city  students,  who  but  for  this  impulse  would 
have  been  content  to  follow  along  the  beaten  path 
to  Columbia  College,  in  their  own  vicinity,  or  at 
any  rate,  if  otherwise  minded,  would  never  have 
entertained  the  thought  of  going  westward  beyond 
Schenectady  and  Dr.  Nott  for  the  sake  of  collegi- 
ate education.  Now,  however,  the  outlook  seemed 
quite  different.  The  rise  of  Hamilton  College  at 
Clinton,  near  the  centre  of  the  State,  about  eight 
miles  from  Utica  westward  (an  institution  of 
normal  growth,  whereof  the  Hamilton  Oneida 
Academy,  established  at  Clinton  in  1812,  was  the 
germ),  occup3'ing  a  beautiful  site,  and  "  officered  " 
by  a  competent  Faculty,  attracted  young  men  from 


lOO  LIFE   NOTES. 

the  East  as  well  as  from  the  West,  from  New  York 
as  well  as  from  Detroit.  There,  nearly  sixty  years 
ago,  they  were  gathered  from  the  geographical 
extremes  as  well  as  from  the  central  neighbor- 
hoods ;  as,  for  instance,  young  Tompkins,  the  son 
of  the  vice-president,  whose  home  was  on  Staten 
Island,  and  the  son  of  Gov.  Clinton,  whose  home 
was  in  Albany,  were  fellow-students  with  the  son 
of  Judge  Porter,  the  proprietor  of  the  land  on 
the  American  side  of  Niagara  Falls.  The  college 
catalogue  exhibited,  for  successive  years,  the 
names  of  students  representing  the  oldest  families 
of  Old  New  York  in  class-fellowship  with  those 
who  hailed  from  little  villages  that  were  then  all 
alive  with  the  sense  of  a  "  manifest  destiny "  to 
become  great  cities,  with  possibilities  quite  un- 
definable.  To  the  whole  company  of  students 
domiciled  upon  Clinton  Hill  at  that  period  the 
outlook  of  life  was  bright  and  hopeful  in  the  light 
of  a  new  era,  and  the  future  of  every  individual 
seemed  well  assured,  like  the  future  of  the  im- 
perial State  that  could  unite  the  waters  of  our 
inland  seas  to  all  the  seas  of  the  world,  and  bring 
the  wealth  of  the  West  to  our  own  metropolitan 
centre.  In  the  year  1825  the  completion  of  the 
Eric  Canal  was  magnificently  celebrated  ;  and 
then,  when  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Mitchell  ended  the 
ceremony  by  pouring  into  the  Atlantic  tide  bottles 


EDUCATIONAL   PERIOD    CONTINUED.        10 1 

of  water  from  "  the  Ganges  and  Indus  of  Asia, 
from  the  Nile  and  the  Gambia  of  Africa,  the 
Thames,  the  Seine,  the  Rhine,  and  the  Danube  of 
Europe,  the  Mississippi  and  Columbia  of  North, 
and  Orinoko,  La  Plata,  and  Amazon  of  South 
America,"  in  connection  with  a  spirited  oration  in- 
terpreting the  symbols,  he  fitly  expressed  the  high- 
toned  hopefulness  that  had  animated  the  whole 
community  throughout  the  preceding  half-decade. 

THE   HISTORICAL  VIEW-POINT. 

Thus  the  year  1825  asserts  its  claim  as  a  chrono- 
logical stand-point  for  any  one  who  would  appre- 
hend correctly  the  historical  relations  of  the  old 
and  the  new.  The  mention  of  it  in  this  connec- 
tion awakens  many  pleasant  memories,  noting  it 
as  the  middle  year  of  my  Hamilton-College  life, 
having  joined  the  Sophomore  class  in  1824,  the 
third  term.  Leaving  the  steamer  "  Chancellor  Liv- 
ingston "  at  Albany,  the  old-fashioned  stage-coach 
stood  ready  to  carry  our  travelling  company  to 
Schenectady,  whence  we  went  right  forward  to 
Utica  by  the  Erie  Canal,  at  the  rate  of  four  miles 
an  hour,  in  the  new  and  strange-looking  "  packet," 
which,  attractive  to  us  by  its  novelty,  compensated 
for  its  slowness  by  uninterrupted  persistency  day 
and  night ;  illustrating  the  old  story  of  the  tortoise 
overtaking  the  race-horse. 


I02  LIFE  NOTES. 

A  number  of  my  fellow-passengers  were  then 
enjoying  their  first  trip  on  the  Erie  Canal.  Land- 
ing at  Utica,  they  were  greatly  amazed  at  the 
sight  of  a  comparatively  thriving  and  beautiful 
city  that  had  sprung  up  so  suddenly  along  the 
shores  and  heights  of  the  Mohawk.  Men  of  lively 
imagination  could  not  discern  the  limitations  of 
its  groAvth,  and  predicted  for  it  a  sort  of  metro- 
politan eminence. 

INTRODUCTION   TO   COLLEGE-LIFE. 

The  Presbyterian  congregation  was  already  the 
most  poAverful  religious  organism  of  the  city,  its 
house  of  Avorship  a  large  central  structure,  and 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Aikin,  the  minister,  though  in  his 
prime,  seemed  relatively  patriarchal.  As  a  life- 
long family  friend,  he  made  me  his  guest,  and 
sent  me  forth  to  the  college  at  Clinton,  eight  miles 
westward,  well  equipped  with  letters  of  introduc- 
tion. The  president.  Rev.  Henry  Davis,  D.D., 
once  a  professor  at  Yale,  afterwards  president  of 
Middlebury  College,  Vermont,  in  stjde  of  dress 
and  manners  a  perfect  representative  of  ancient 
scholastic  dignity,  received  the  new-comer  with 
Internal  graciousness  at  his  "  study  "  in  the  north- 
west corner  of  his  own  dwelling,  having  an  out- 
look over  the  college-grounds ;  provided  for  my 
examination  at  the  college  without  delay,  mainly 


EDUCATIONAL   PERIOD    CONTINUED.        IO3 

under  the  direction  of  the  senior  tutor,  William 
Kirkland ;  then,  cujigratulating  me  on  the  realiza- 
tion of  my  Avishes,  arranged  with  instinctive  per- 
ception of  character,  through  the  agency  of  his 
son,  my  first  introductions  to  fellow-students,  and 
a  provisional  room-mate.  It  was  the  instinct  of 
parental  wisdom  and  the  keen  tact  of  an  educator, 
as  it  now  seems  to  me  retrospectively,  that  sug- 
gested these  arrangements  as  to  their  minute  par- 
ticulars of  adaptation  to  m}^  tastes  and  needs, 
mentally  and  socially.  Alone,  without  acquaint- 
anceship, how  much  as  to  personal  happiness  and 
welfare  depended  upon  first  impressions  and  first 
companionships !  Immediately  I  found  myself  at 
ease,  at  home,  and  satisfied  with  my  surroundings. 

EIVAL  LITERARY   SOCIETIES. 

One  of  the  first  impressions,  however,  made 
upon  my  mind  soon  after  my  arrival,  pertaining 
to  the  social  tone  of  the  college,  seemed  for  a 
little  time  somewhat  abnormal.  All  alike,  even 
the  oldest,  were  apparently  desirous  of  making 
my  acquaintance ;  and  the  grace  or  tact  with  which 
o})portunities  were  sought,  suggested  some  excep- 
tional inspiration  more  than  the  spirit  of  ordinary 
civility.  There  was  a  sense  of  environment  in  a 
sunny  atmosphere ;  and  this  first  specimen  that  I 
had  seen  of  a  state  of  separation  from  the  outside 


I04  LIFE   NOTES. 

world  to  the  new  relationship  of  college  home-life, 
commended  itself  to  my  sympathetic  appreciation. 
Erelong,  however,  the  nature  of  the  inspiration 
that  prompted  these  winning  attentions  disclosed 
itself,  not  so  permanently  unique  as  it  had  seemed. 
A  warm  rivalry  between  the  two  literary  societies 
kindled  a  specially  sympathetic  interest  in  the 
new-comer ;  so  that  the  youngest  stranger  from 
tlie  country,  however  shy  by  nature,  found  him- 
self quite  rich  in  friends,  and  his  favoring  smile 
sought  as  a  prize.  In  due  time  the  claims  of  the 
Phoenix  and  the  Philoputhean  were  eloquently 
pleaded ;  and,  by  the  time  that  the  decisive  choice 
was  made,  the  young  pilgrim,  who  might  have 
been  a  little  chilled  by  loneliness,  found  himself 
naturalized  to  a  tropical  climate,  healthful  and 
enjoyable. 

INTELLECTUAL  AND  SOCIAL  ATMOSPHERE. 

The  influence  of  these  two  rival  societies,  each 
being  centred  in  its  own  room  and  library,  was 
favorable  to  self-culture,  especially  aiding  devel- 
opment of  faculty  in  speaking  and  debate  more 
effectually  than  the  regular  collegiate  exercises. 
Kindred  associations  in  various  colleges  of  the 
country  have  of  late  years  given  place  to  "  secret 
societies,"  proposing  sociality  as  their  one  end  and 
practical   aim.     Educational  observers  have  said. 


EDUCATIONAL   PERIOD    CONTINUED.        105 

that,  during  the  last  two  decades,  the  poAver  of 
debate  has  declmed  within  the  area  of  college-life. 
And  the  president  of  one  university,^  recognizing 
"the  situation,"  has  provided,  by  means  of  the 
construction,  or  reconstruction,  of  the  college- 
buildings,  for  the  furnishing  of  society  rooms  in 
an  attractive  way,  adapted  to  revive  an  interest  in 
the  ideal  aim  that  stimulated  to  special  efforts  the 
students  of  the  olden  time.  Can  any  one  peruse 
the  life  of  Daniel  Webster,  and  notice  the  degree 
of  power  attributed  by  his  biographer,  George 
Ticknor  Curtis,  to  the  action  of  a  society  of  this 
order,  in  the  development  of  the  grandest  Ameri- 
can lawyer,  orator,  and  statesman  of  our  century, 
without  a  profound  feeling  of  the  significance  of 
such  a  proposal  ? 

In  this  connection  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that 
the  cherished  interest  in  this  line  of  educational 
self-culture  has  never  died  out  on  Clinton  Hill, 
and  that,  in  the  intercollegiate  representative  trials 
of  oratory,  Hamilton  College  has  never  receded 
from  the  van. 

PERSONNEL  OF  THE  FACULTY. 

Although,  in  referring  to  the  examination  for 
entrance,  I  mentioned  particularly  the  name  of 
the    senior  tutor,  Mr.  William   Kirkland,  several 

1  President  Robinson  of  Brown  University. 


I06  LIFE   NOTES. 

other  members  of  the  Facult}^  were  present.  Of 
Mr.  Kirkhiiid  himself  we  may  speak  as  "  to  the 
manor  born;"  the  family  history  of  the  Kirklands, 
including  the  eminent  president  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, having  been  so  intimately  associated  with 
the  annals  of  the  village  of  Clinton  and  the  county 
of  Oneida.  In  manner  the  senior  tutor  was 
gentlemanly,  deliberate,  critical ;  in  fact,  like  his 
distinguished  relative  of  Harvard,  accomplished 
and  effective  in  personal  communication,  but 
without  corresponding  power  of  expression  by 
means  of  pen  or  type.  He  is  now,  retrospectively, 
quite  familiar  to  our  thought  as  the  husband  of 
Mrs.  Caroline  M.  Kirkland,  nee  Stansbury,  author 
of  the  "Life  of  Washington,"  and  an  eminent 
figure  in  New  York  society  before  and  after  the 
war  for  the  Union. 

Prominent  in  the  college  Faculty,  occupying 
the  chair  of  mathematics  and  natural  philosophy, 
was  Professor  Theodore  Strong,  LL.D.,  a  strong- 
brained  man,  putting  all  the  energy  of  his  nature 
into  his  specialty,  and  in  regard  to  whose  rank 
among  mathematicians  it  was  generally  conceded 
that  there  were  none  above  him.  He  was  in 
later  years,  while  professor  at  Brunswick,  N.J., 
an  effective  contributor  to  the  mathematical  litera- 
ture of  the  time,  and,  as  a  teacher,  especially  prized 
by  the  few  who  took  rank  as  "born  mathemati- 


EDUCATIONAL   PERIOD    CONTINUED.        \OJ 

cians."  Nevertheless,  the  professor  always  denied 
that  nature  had  gifted  him  with  ''genius,''  aftirm- 
ing  that  all  his  acquisitions  had  been  conquered 
by  force  of  will  and  hard  work.  In  this  line  of 
direction  his  talk  was  an  inspiration  of  encourage- 
ment to  the  dullest. 

At  the  head  of  the  classical  department  was 
Professor  John  Monteith,  a  clergyman  of  Scotch 
origin,  a  man  of  gentle  manners,  who  "  magnified 
his  office  "  by  doing  honest  work  and  by  getting 
honest  work  out  of  his  students ;  by  a  personal  in- 
fluence drawing  them  into  sympathy  with  his  deep 
sense  of  the  essential  worth  of  classical  studies 
as  related  to  success  in  life.  In  his  presence,  how 
low  and  mean  and  unpractical  seemed  the  views 
of  those  who  regarded  the  knowledge  of  the 
ancient  languages  as  merely  "  ornamental "  !  If 
ever  his  unemotional  features  glowed  with  the 
feeling  of  utter  scorn,  it  was  wd:ien  provoked  by 
the  expression  of  that  idea  by  some  popular  jour- 
nalists. Over  the  laboratory  Dr.  Noyes,  "  free 
and  easy  "  in  his  dress  and  address,  presided,  and 
having  drawn  to  him,  as  assistant,  George  W. 
Clinton,  did  his  best  to  impart  to  "us  boys  "  such 
an  amount  of  college  chemistry  as  was  possible 
under  his  limitations.  He  was  never  disconcerted. 
If  an  experiment  issued  differently  from  his  pre- 
diction, as  it  often  would,  he  was  happy  over  it,  as 


I08  LIFE   NOTES. 

quite  fortunate ;  saying  that  he  had  already  given 
ns  the  true  hiw  of  the  case,  and  that  now  anotlier 
very  important  principle  had  been  incidentally 
verified.  Thus  every  mishap  was  clear  gain  I 
One  thing  we  Avere  well  taught  in  that  laboratory ; 
namely,  how  to  make  the  best  of  our  mistakes  by 
tracing  them  to  their  causes. 

EFFECTIVE  FORCE  OF  "THE  SMALLER   COLLEGES." 

My  retrospective  view  of  college-life  has  never 
suggested  a  regret  that  I  was  induced  to  leave  the 
great  metropolis  to  seek  matriculation  in  one  of 
the  smaller  colleges  of  the  country.  There,  cer- 
tainly, the  environment  was  most  favorable  to 
mental  health  and  effective  work ;  adapted  to  call 
out  the  best  that  is  in  one,  so  as  to  realize  the 
essential  idea  of  education.  A  largely  endowed 
university,  with  its  thousands  of  students,  may 
fitly  meet  the  needs  of  those  who  would  pursue  a 
post-graduate  course  for  the  mastery  of  specialties ; 
but  for  the  majority  of  the  younger  class  the  surest 
groundwork  of  a  really  liberal  education,  suited  to 
the  broad  area  of  American  citizenship,  is  the 
curriculum  of  the  college,  pursued  without  liability 
to  distraction  for  several  successive  years.  Illus- 
trative of  this  statement  in  the  sight  of  the  civil- 
ized world  is  the  life-story  of  President  Garfield, 
whose  kingly  rank  as  scholar,  orator,  soldier,  and 


EDUCATIONAL    PERIOD    CONTINUED.        IO9 

statesman  is  recognized  to-day  not  only  by  the 
nation  that  owned  liim  as  chief,  but  by  all  edu- 
cated nations  throughout  Christendom  and  Hea- 
thendom. To  meet  his  needs  for  the  realization 
of  his  high  ideal,  there  was  one  great  necessity; 
namely,  a  college  like  Williams  College,  including 
"a  born  teacher"  like  President  Hopkins,  combin- 
ing a  genius  for  metaphysics  as  well  as  for  science 
and  literature.  The  correspondence  of  demand 
and  supply  was  complete  ;  and  while  the  example 
of  Garfield  is  remembered,  thousands  of  young 
men  will  discern  in  President  Hopkins's  beck  to 
the  struggling  student,  voiced  in  the  written  re- 
sponse to  his  inquiry,  ''Come,  and  we  will  do  what 
we  can  for  you,"  an  argument  in  the  interest 
of  "  the  smaller  colleges." 

OXONIAN  ANT)   HAMILTONIAN  BROTHERHOOD. 

While  writing  this  last  sentence  there  is  on  the 
table  before  me  a  journal  containing  an  article 
referring  to  the  latest  edition  of  Dean  Stanley's 
"  great  work  "  on  Palestine  and  Syria,  tracing  the 
steps  of  the  eminent  English  scholar  pursuing  his 
critical  studies  over  the  ancient  land,  guided  by 
Dr.  Edward  Robinson,  the  pioneer  of  his  age  in 
that  line  of  investigation,  whose  subtle  insight  in 
the  determination  of  doubtful  questions  has  won 
for  him  recognition  as  "  a  supreme  authority."     It 


no  LIFE   NOTES. 

is  interesting  to  observe  with  what  implicit  trust 
tlie  illustrious  alumnus  of  uld  Oxford  follows  the 
leadership  of  the  alumnus  of  Hamilton  College, 
treating  his  tested  conclusions  as  final ;  freely  ac- 
knowledging the  indebtedness  of  European  scholar- 
ship to  the  American  geographer,  whose  faculties 
were  trained  for  his  enduring  life-work  in  the 
college-halls  of  Clinton  Hill. 


THEOLOGICAL-SEMINARY  LIFE.  Ill 


VIII. 

THEOLOGICAL-SEMINARY  LIFE. 
POST-GRADUATE  BEWILDERMENTS. 

The  night  and  day  that  followed  our  gradua- 
tion festival  seemed  exceptionally  long  — more 
than  twice  twenty-four  hours— while  lingering, 
necessarily,  upon  Clinton  Hill,  after  the  last  fare- 
wells had  been  spoken,  when  the  college-halls 
were  all  silent,  and  the  surroundings  solitary. 
This  post-graduate  depression,  however,  was  tem- 
porary, and  not  so  serious  as  some  have  told  me 
of,  in  communicating  an  experience  of  their  own, 
brought  on  mainly  by  the  failure  to  choose  with  a 
decided  preference  any  profession  or  specialty  of 
pursuit. 

At  the  end  of  the  college  curriculum  they  have 
halted  doubtingly,  looking  forth  upon  the  wide 
world  teeming  with  busy  life,  unable  to  advance 
a  step  in  view  of  any  defined  end  or  aim  fit  to  call 
forth  the  best  that  is  in  them,  or  to  render  the 
future  attractive.  Some  of  the  strongest  men  in 
the   world   have   had   a   heart-story   like    this   to 


112  LIFE   NOTES. 


tell.     Even  John  Stuart  Mill,  after  having  passed 


throuo'h  liis  set  course  of  home  education,  thou< 


fc> 


exempt  from  any  sequent  pang  of  separation  from 
companions,  felt  the  strange,  chill  gloominess  of 
this  mental  state,  wherein  the  lack  of  any  special 
interest  in  life  issued  in  a  depression  that  he  has 
described  as  distracting  hopelessness. 

THE   UPLIFTING   LIFE-AIM. 

From  any  bewildering  experience  of  this  sort  I 
was  saved  by  the  determinate  choice  of  the  Chris- 
tian ministry  as  my  life-work.  During  my  school- 
days the  trend  of  my  thought  had  been  toward 
the  law  as  a  profession ;  and  many  of  my  holiday 
hours  were  given  to  the  amusement  of  attending 
the  marine  court,  and  also  the  higher  courts,  in  the 
old  City  Hall.  But  the  intensely  religious  interest 
that  so  widely  prevailed  in  Northern  and  Central 
New  York  in  1825  invested  the  college,  at  last, 
like  a  tropical  atmosphere,  and  imparted  a  higher 
tone  to  our  thinking  and  purposes.  The  faith 
that  I  had  already  cherished  nearly  three  years, 
constituting  me,  as  I  believed,  a  member  of  "  the 
one  spiritual  Cliurch,"  — "  the  one  flock  of  God 
on  earth,"  whereof  Jesus  proclaimed  himself  "  the 
one  chief  sheplierd"  (John  x.),  —  had  been  find- 
ing scope  for  action  in  the  membership  of  the 
College  Theological  Society  as  well  as  in  Sunday- 


THE OL O GICAL-SEMINA KY  L IFE.  1 1 3 

school  work,  and  was  now  quickened  to  keener 
sympathy,  not  only  with  the  older  workers,  but 
also  with  "  the  young  converts  "  who  were  starting 
upon  their  life-course  with  new  ends  and  aims. 
Among  these  older  workers  Avas  Harrison  G.  O. 
Dwight,  now  remembered  as  one  of  the  pioneer 
American  missionaries  at  Constantinople  ;  Harvey 
Fisk  (a  cousin  of  Pliny  Fisk,  missionary  to  Pales- 
tine), the  author  of  the  first  Sunday-school  ques- 
tion-book published  in  America ;  Asa  Mahan,  whose 
volumes  on  "The  Science  of  Logic"  and  ''The 
System  of  Mental  Philosophy  "  are  still  fresh  issues 
from  the  press:  among  "the  young  converts," 
John  Diell,  who  became  first  chaplain  of  the 
American  Seamen's  Friend  Society  at  Honolulu. 
In  the  process  of  this  concerted  work  the  ministry 
loomed  up  as  a  divine  institution,  dealing  with 
the  highest  interests  of  mankind,  and  asserting  the 
supremacy  of  its  claims.  The  questioning  as  to 
personal  duty  became  urgent.  I  conferred  with 
my  father,  and  was  warned  by  him  against  enter- 
taining the  thought  of  assuming  the  obligations 
of  a  life-work  like  that,  unless  assured  that  I  could 
be  conscientiously  content  with  no  other  calling, 
and  that,  for  the  sake  of  this  one,  I  would  rather 
live,  if  necessary,  on  the  equivalent  of  "locusts 
and  wild  honey  in  the  wilderness  "  than  luxuriate 
in   the    great   metropolis   on    rewards    of   secular 


114  LIFE   NOTES. 

success.  Tlie  advice  was  wise.  I  accepted  the 
conditions,  in  self-deliberation  passed  the  ordeal, 
and  resolved  to  obey  tlie  higher  vocation. 

IDEAL   SUPERIORITY   TO   DENOMINATIONALISM. 

As  yet,  however,  I  had  no  membership  in  any 
denominational  organism  whatever.  In  fact,  the 
question  whether  any  organized  externalism,  or 
any  visible  "  ecdeua^^  set  up  by  Christ  himself  to 
be  an  exponent  or  representative  of  tliat  one 
spiritual  Church  whereof  he  had  said,  "  I  am  the 
good  shepherd,  and  know  my  sheep,  and  am 
known  of  mine,"  could  be  found  anywhere  upon 
the  face  of  the  earth  as  a  formulated  order  in  a 
"local  habitation,"  had  not  been  satisfactorily 
settled.  The  outlines  of  Church  history  —  Greek, 
Romish,  and  Protestant  —  had  awakened  a  dread 
of  self-subjection  to  a  merely  man-made  organism, 
claiming  priestly  or  clerical  authority.  Hence  it 
seemed  necessary  to  seek  anew  fresh  information 
at  the  original  sources,  in  accordance  Avith  Christ's 
direction  to  the  inquirers  of  his  day :  "  Search  the 
Scriptures."  To  read  or  re-read  his  word  in 
the  Greek  Testament  Avitli  reference  to  the  one 
question  that  had  presented  itself,  was  the  su- 
preme duty  just  then.  From  the  plain  facts  of 
the  historic  narrative  in  the  Four  Gospels,  the 
thirty  years'  Church-history  of  the  Acts,  elucidated 


THEOLOGICA L-SEMINARY  LIFE.  1 1 5 

by  the  teachings  of  the  Epistles,  it  became  quite 
clear  that  Christ  not  only  affirmed  his  personal 
relation  to  a  spiritual  kingdom  composed  of  those 
who  were  "  of  the  truth  hearing  his  voice  "  (John 
xviii.  37),  called  forth  from  the  world,  and  united 
to  him  by  the  sympathies  of  a  loving  faith,  but 
that  he  did,  moreover,  institute  local  organisms, 
visible  exponents  of  that  spiritual  kingdom,  and 
designated  each  one  of  those  assemblies  or  con- 
vocations his  '•'' ecclesiay^  denoting  thus  a  body  of 
persons  gathered  together  of  their  own  accord, 
responsive  to  a  call.  In  this  connection  it  became 
clear,  also,  that  this  characterizing  term  first  ap- 
pears in  the  New  Testament  as  put  forth  by  Christ 
himself  (Matt.  xvi.  18),  indicating  the  direct 
opposite  or  set  antithesis  to  the  old  Hebrew 
organism  wherein  membership  was  inherited  as  in 
a  civil  state ;  that  such  "  ecclesice  "  were  gathered 
by  the  first  preachers  under  the  commission  be- 
yond Judaea,  throughout  Asia  Minor  and  Europe  ; 
that,  in  constituting  these  local  organizations,  the 
requisition  of  baptism,  followed  by  the  observance 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  Avas  added  to  that  of  an  oral 
confession  of  the  interior  faith  that  was  always 
emphasized  as  the  primary  and  vital  element  of 
conscious  Christianization.  This  primitive  con- 
ception of  a  spiritual  kingdom  and  a  visible  repre- 
sentative '' ecdesia^''  given  to  the  world  by  Jesus 


Il6  LIFE   NOTES. 

and  his  apostles,  shone  forth  from  the  pages  of  the 
New  Testament  as  a  distinctive  feature  of  external 
Christianity;  a  guiding  light,  self-witnessing!^ 

SIGNIFICANCE   OF   THE    "  ECCLESIA "    RECOGNIZED. 

When  this  teaching  of  the  New  Testament  had 
become  clarified  as  a  doctrinal  unity,  it  asserted 
itself  as  authoritative.  The  next  step  was  taken 
with  the  joyousness  of  a  settled  mind.  The  spring 
vacation  of  1825  afforded  the  opportunity.  On  a 
Saturday  afternoon,  at  five  o'clock,  I  presented 
myself  to  Rev.  John  Williams,  at  his  study  in 
Oliver  Street,  New  York,  where  my  story  was 
heard,  and  followed  by  a  pastoral  welcome  to  the 
next  church  gathering.  It  was  the  last  relation 
of  a  personal  experience  that  he  listened  to  on 
earth :  the  next  morning,  at  ten  o'clock,  he  died 
suddenly  while  attem[)ting  to  put  on  his  coat  in 
order  to  attend  the  usual  church-AVorship.  On 
the  first  sabbath  of  June  my  baptism,  and  welcome 
to  church-fellowship,  were  administered  by  his  col- 
league, Rev.  Dr.  Spencer  H.  Cone. 

The  reception  of  these  ordinances  was  not  re- 
garded as  initiating  a  new  spiritual  relation  to 
Christ,  but  simply  as  "  making  manifest "  the  rela- 
tion already  existing ;  adding  to  the  avowal  of 
personal  union  with  the  one  spiritual  Church  the 
baptismal  oath,  symbol  of  self-dedication,  and  then, 

1  See  Appendices,  page  342. 


THEOLOGICAL-SEMINARY  LIFE.  WJ 

in  concert  with  those  who  had  already  taken  it, 
adding  also  the  sequent  sacrament  or  memorial 
feast,  to  be  often  repeated  in  commemoration  of 
Christ  as  the  source  of  redemptive  life. 

STUDENT-LIFE  AT   PRINCETON. 

Before  the  last  partings  and  farewells  were 
ended  on  Clinton  Hill,  a  few  of  us  promised  to 
meet  again  at  Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  to 
join  the  junior  class  of  1826-27.  The  promise  was 
kept.  It  was  a  happy  re-union.  My  introduction 
to  the  president.  Rev.  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander, 
seemed  a  notable  event,  so  reverentially  regarded 
was  he  as  the  patriarch  of  American  Presbyterian- 
ism,  the  most  widely  accepted  interpreter,  through 
the  pulpit,  of  its  doctrinal  formulations,  its  charac- 
teristic tone  and  spirit.  In  the  highest  degree  he 
realized  one's  best  ideal  of  the  parental  character, 
and  his  welcome  made  the  young  student  think  of 
himself  as  adopted  at  once  into  the  filial  relation. 
A  feeling  somewhat  different  was  called  forth  on  the 
day  following,  by  my  introduction  to  the  eminent 
professor  of  ecclesiastical  history.  Rev.  Samuel 
Miller,  D.D.,  —  an  event  anticipated  with  special 
interest,  on  account  of  his  former  associations  with 
life  in  New  York.  The  Doctor,  as  to  his  physique 
and  the  most  trifling  characteristic  of  his  make-up, 
represented,  to  the  general  thought,  the  cultured 


Il8  LIFE   NOTES. 

Christian  gentleman.  His  latest  work,  entitled 
"Clerical  Manners  and  Habits,"  was  then  fresh 
from  the  j)ress,  the  talk  of  the  day,  calling  forth 
criticisms,  both  captious  and  candid ;  even  the 
ladies  taking  a  profound  interest  in  the  treatment 
of  the  minutest  points.  His  gentle,  naturally  dig- 
nified and  attractive  manner  made  the  j^oung  stu- 
dent feel  that  his  own  character  as  a  gentleman 
was  cordially  recognized.  Ushered  into  his  library 
about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  we  happened  to 
meet  him  with  one  boot  just  then  put  on,  holding 
the  other  in  his  hand ;  bowing,  waving  his  hand 
toward  a  chair,  he  said,  "  Pray  be  seated.  Excuse 
me  for  putting  on  my  boot ;  already  I  have  put  on 
one,  and  it  claims  its  mate."  Scholarly  though 
he  was,  his  way  and  manner  were  not  scholastic  ; 
rather,  courtier-like,  and  so  far  cosmopolitan,  that, 
had  he  been  appointed  to  any  European  court  as  a 
diplomatist  with  the  prestige  of  statesmanship,  the 
impression  made  at  his  reception  would  have  been 
in  consonance  with  his  accredited  character.  His 
influence  upon  young  men  was  wholesome,  and  an 
element  traceable  widely  in  the  clerical  culture  of 
the  period. 

At  this  time  we  all  missed  the  personal  presence 
of  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  Hodge,  then  absent  in  Ger- 
many. Combining,  as  he  did,  the  higher  qualities 
of  exegete   and  theologian,  his  volumes   entitled 


THE  OL  O  GICA  L-SEMINA  R  V  LIFE,  1 1 9 

"  Systematic  Theology  "  stand  to-day,  in  company 
with  the  four  volumes  of  Dwight's  "  Theology,"  in 
the  libraries  of  the  leading  scholars  and  cultivated 
readers  of  English-speaking  peoples.  In  1876  I 
noticed  them  together  upon  the  same  shelf  at  the 
home  of  a  professor  in  Glasgow ;  suggesting  then 
and  there  the  remark,  that  for  five  generations 
Yale  and  Princeton,  in  the  persons  of  Dwight  and 
Hodge,  had  furnished  the  most  widely  accepted 
exponents  of  evangelical  Christianity,  thus  con- 
tributing largely  toward  a  unification  of  theologi- 
cal thought,  and  a  real  advancement  as  to  the 
method,  spirit,  and  tone  of  European  thinking  as 
well  as  discipline. 

CHARACTERIZATIOX   OF   PEINCETON   IN   1827. 

The  interest  of  a  residence  in  Princeton  in  1827 
was  intensified  by  the  enthusiasm  of  discussion 
called  forth  by  the  division  of  Presbyterians  into 
two  parties,  rallying  around  the  distinctive  stand- 
ards of  the  Old  and  the  New  School.  Although 
Princeton  represented  the  Old,  there  was  a  strong 
trend  toward  the  New  School  on  the  part  of 
many ;  all  alike,  however,  in  the  main  encouraging 
a  scholarly  freedom  of  thought  and  speech.  A  sig- 
nificant fact  pertaining  to  the  religious  literature 
of  the  period,  indicating  an  underlying  basis  of 
unity,  seemed  even  then,  when  it  first  drew  atten- 


120  LIFE   NOTES. 

tion,  prophetic  of  the  reconciliation  that  has  since 
been  accomplished.  A  Boston  house,  Lincoln 
&  Edmands,  having  issued  an  edition  of  Andrew 
Fuller's  complete  works,  seven  volumes,  presented 
a  set  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher,  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  New  School,  and  another  to  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Miller  of  Princeton,  as  a  representative 
of  the  Old.  Each  of  those  gentlemen  expressed 
in  Avriting  to  the  Boston  house  his  appreciation 
of  the  gift ;  each  of  them  saying  for  himself,  that, 
if  he  were  to  name  any  one  man  as  the  trusted 
exponent  of  his  own  conception  of  Christian  doc- 
trines fitly  formulated  into  unity,  —  apart  from 
his  denominational  position  as  a  Baptist,  —  he 
would  name  Andrew  Fuller.  An  unexpected  rev- 
elation !  The  leaders  of  opposing  schools  found 
themselves  most  satisfactorily  interpreted  b}'  the 
leading  writer  of  another  denomination,  who  took 
rank  with  no  ''  school "  at  all,  but  simply  sought, 
as  teacher  and  preacher,  to  give  just  expression  to 
biblical  Christianity,  apprehended  as  a  unity  by 
minds  in  sympathy  with  its  all-pervading  spirit. ^ 

The  first  study  of  the  junior  year  was  Hebrew 
under  Tutor  Nevin,  using  the  grammar  and  chres- 
tomathy  of  Professor  Stuart  of-Andover,  then  re- 
cently issued  by  that  noble  pioneer  of  American 
scholarship  in  an  advanced  course  of  biblical  study. 
As  yet,  but  little  attention  had  been  given  to  He- 
1  See  Appendices,  page  344. 


THEOLOGICAL-SEMINARY  LIFE.  121 

brew  in  this  country ;  dow  it  began  to  assert  itself 
as  an  essential  element  of  ministerial  education, 
and  these  effective  beginnings  were  heraldic  of  the 
real  "theological  renaissance  of  the  nineteenth 
century."  From  that  day  to  the  present,  the  turn 
of  thought  among  evangelical  Christians  has  been 
onward,  away  from  self-subjection  to  the  formula- 
tions of  scholastic  authority,  to  "  the  sound  words  " 
of  the  apostolic  men  interpreted  by  tlieir  contexts 
and  the  other  hermeneutical  rules  universally  rec- 
ognized as  grounded  in  the  unchanging  laws  of 
nature  and  reason. 

FROM  PRINCETON   TO   NEWTON. 

It  had  been  my  expectation,  on  entering  Prince- 
ton, to  avail  myself  of  the  complete  three  years' 
course  at  that  seminary.  An  incident  suddenly 
turned  my  steps  toward  New  England.  While  in 
New  York,  occupying  for  a  sabbatli  the  pulpit  of 
my  absent  pastor.  Rev.  Dr.  Cone,  I  was  brought 
into  communication  with  a  merchant  of  Boston, 
Mr.  Nathaniel  R.  Cobb,  who  had  been  active  and 
financially  liberal  in  laying  the  foundations  of  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Newton,  where  two  schol- 
arly men.  Professor  Irah  Chase  and  Professor 
Henry  J.  Ripley,  were  already  at  work.  His 
urgent  invitation  to  visit  Boston  at  the  beginning 
of  the  next  Princeton  vacation  was  accepted :  and 


122  LIFE   NOTES. 

the  issue  was  a  change  of  relations,  in  1828,  from 
the  venerable  seminary  of  the  Presbyterians  to  the 
youthful  Baptist  institution  crowning  the  beau- 
tiful eminence  at  Newton  Centre. 

The  determination  to  make  that  change  was  not 
induced  simply  by  denominational  sentiment  or 
personal  sympathy.  Newton  Theological  Semi- 
nary was  the  exponent  of  a  cardinal  idea;  namely, 
the  subordination  of  the  whole  curriculum  of 
studies  to  the  mastery  of  a  purely  biblical  the- 
ology. The  chief  means  to  this  end  was  the 
thorough  "rooting  and  grounding"  in  the  exegesis 
of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  Scriptures ;  that  is,  iu 
the  primary  record  of  facts  and  sajings  that  con- 
stitute "  revealed  Christianity."  No  creed  or 
formulation,  like  that  of  the  Presbyterian  Confes- 
sion of  Faith,  could  rightfully  assert  an  authority 
to  dominate  in  interpretation.  No  disciple  or 
teacher  could  be  rightfully  burdened  with  the  re- 
sponsibility of  defending,  in  the  view  of  the 
Church  or  the  world,  any  extra-Scriptural  com- 
bination of  words  and  phrases.  In  a  course  of 
studies  shaped  by  this  ruling  idea,  exegesis  (that 
is,  the  application  to  "  the  written  word  "  of  those 
tried  rules  of  interpreting  language  that  shine  by 
tlieir  own  light,  and  command  the  acceptance  of 
mankind)  would  naturally  hold  the  primary  place. 
And  it  was  so.     This  ideal,  as  a  guiding   light. 


THEOLOGICAL-SEMINARY  LIFE.  1 23 

slione  before  the  mind  of  the  senior  professor,  Dr. 
Chase,  when  he  composed  the  printed  statement 
of  the  ends  and  aims  of  Newton  Seminary,  which 
then  loomed  up  as  a  "sign  of  the  times,"  with  a 
unique  aim,  analogous  to  the  mission  of  the  Beth- 
lehem star  that  led  the  inquiring  Magians  to  the 
recognition  of  the  Messiah,  worthy  to  receive  their 
choicest  tributes  of  personal  devotion  and  of 
world-wide  testimony.^ 

1  See  Appendices,  page  347. 


124  LIFE  NOTES. 


IX. 

THE   WIDE  WORLD  FIELD. 
FIRST  CALL  TO   THE  PASTORATE. 

In  the  company  of  students  at  the  Newton 
Theological  Seminary  in  1828,  there  was  no  one 
more  distinguished  by  persistent  energy  in  his 
preparatory  course,  or  more  glowing  enthusiasm 
in  view  of  his  future,  than  Francis  Mason,  who, 
like  William  Carey,  while  yet  alone  in  compara- 
tive seclusion,  had  set  his  heart  upon  one  object  of 
supreme  interest ;  namely,  the  life-work  of  a  mis- 
sionary in  Asia.  His  career  has  been  effectively 
completed;  and  his  elaborate  volume,  entitled 
"  Burmah,"  while  valued  highly  as  a  memorial  of 
himself,  constantly  suggests  the  thought,  by  its 
masterly  comprehensiveness,  that  the  spirit  of  Dr. 
Carey  rested  upon  him  as  an  exceptional  endow- 
ment. It  seems  now  no  wonder  to  me  that  his 
daily  companionship  and  spontaneous  talk  should 
have  kindled  latent  sympathies  responsive  to  the 
calls  from  heathendom.  It  was  so  ;  and  the  awak- 
ening led  to  a  conference,  as  to  the  proper  field 


THE    WIDE    WORLD   FIELD.  1 25 

"  to  look  forward  to,"  with  the  good  and  fatherly 
secretary  of  the  Board,  Lucius  Bolles,  D.D.,  who, 
after  his  usual  calm  consideration,  counselled  me 
to  "drop  the  question  for  the  present,"  saying 
that  he  doubted  not  that  Providence  would  indi- 
cate to  me  special  work  on  the  home-field  in  a 
way  that  would  leave  no  room  for  hesitation  as  to 
the  path  of  duty. 

Erelong  there  came  to.  me  at  Newton  a  formal 
call  to  the  pastorate  of  the  First  Baptist  Church 
of  Providence,  R.I.,  presented  by  a  committee  who 
were  authorized  to  say,  that,  in  view  of  the  excep- 
tional weight  of  parochial  cares  incident  to  the 
surroundings,  and  as  related  to  a  jir^t  pastorate, 
only  one  sermon  on  the  sabbath  would  be  expected 
for  several  successive  years.  This  proposal  was 
to  me  a  surprise ;  an  action  on  the  part  of  the 
old  historic  Church  that  I  could  not  account  for, 
except  by  considering  their  habit  of  deferential 
feeling  —  the  growth  of  a  lifetime — toward  their 
late  patriarchal  pastor,  Rev.  Dr.  Stephen  Gano,  to 
whom,  personally,  I  had  been  brought  exception- 
ally near  in  an  interesting  relationship  a  few 
months  before  his  death ;  for  it  had  come  to  pass, 
that,  after  my  visit  to  Boston  in  September,  1828, 
already  noted,  the  equinoctial  storm  detained  the 
steamer  for  New  York  at  lier  dock  i:i  Providence. 

Wearied  with  the  dela}^,  I  found  my  way  up 


126  LIFE   NOTES. 

the  hill  to  the  parsonage  in  the  afternoon  of  that 
da/,  and  thus  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  ven- 
erable Doctor,  who  was,  when  I  arrived,  reclining 
on  the  lounge,  just  entering  upon  a  three  months' 
confinement  by  the  sickness  that  closed  his  earthly 
career.  He  would  not  let  me  leave  his  house 
during  the  storm,  but  sent  for  my  luggage,  per- 
suaded me  to  remain  over  the  sabbath,  then  sent 
me  to  his  pulpit,  and  drew  from  me  a  promise, 
that,  when  returning  from  Princeton  on  my  way 
to  Newton,  I  would  stay  over  the  sabbath  as  his 
guest  and  helper.  Thus  began  a  special  acquaint- 
anceship with  him,  and  a  friendly  relation  to  the 
First  Church  of  Providence,  that  has  now  become 
the  sacred  memory  of  more  than  half  a  century. 

It  was  said  that  the  dying  pastor,  but  a  short 
time  before  the  final  moment,  had  expressed  a 
wish  ill  regard  to  the  pastoral  succession,  that  liad 
issued  on  the  part  of  the  church  in  the  action 
communicated  by  this  committee.  Deeply  touched 
as  one  would  be  by  such  remembrance,  I  felt  m}- 
self  obliged  to  decline  the  call,  assured  that  the 
time  had  not  yet  come  for  my  accepting  a  charge 
so  many-sided  as  was  that  of  this  eminently  his- 
toric church,  and  that  wisdom  and  grace  would  be 
given  unto  me  to  make  a  more  effective  use  of  wliat 
working-power  I  miglit  liave,  with  some  cheering 
sense  of  adjustment  to  a  more  urgent  need. 


THE    WIDE    WORLD   EI  ELD.  12/ 

INTRODUCTION   TO   PRESIDENT   WAYLAND. 

In  connection  Avith  these  visitations  to  Provi- 
dence, while  yet  a  student,  I  recall  my  early  ac- 
quaintance with  President  Wayland,  who  had 
then  recently  accepted  the  presidency  of  Brown 
University,  and  had  entered  upon  his  arduous 
work  of  reconstruction  soon  after  the  resignation 
of  his  pastorate  in  Boston  and  a  brief  occupancy 
of  the  chair  of  mathematics  and  natural  history 
in  Union  College.  It  was  to  me  then,  at  the  first, 
the  gratification  of  a  curious  interest  merely  to 
see  and  speak  with  him.  For  my  first  recogni- 
tion of  his  individuality  as  a  leading  thinker  and 
writer  of  the  time  came  through  a  regular  decla- 
mation by  a  senior  of  Hamilton  College,  in  1826, 
to  which  I  listened  in  the  chapel  with  intense 
interest  as  to  a  fresh  disquisition  on  "  The  Nature 
of  Sublimity ;  or.  Characteristics  of  the  Sublime." 
And  when  I  inquired  whence  the  orator  had 
drawn  his  selection,  I  was  informed  that  it  was 
an  extract  from  Wayland's  discourse,  published  in 
Boston,  on  "  The  Moral  Dignity  of  the  Missionary 
Enterprise."  Immediately  I  sought  the  pamphlet, 
and  while  in  Princeton  heard  it  talked  about  con- 
siderably ;  one  of  the  reviewers  of  the  day  having 
disapproved  the  effort  to  hold  up  the  missionary 
enterprise  before  the  world  so  as  to  charm  it  out 


128  LIFE   NOTES. 

of  its  indifference,  and  win  resthetic  interest.  I 
was  sorry  for  the  reviewer,  so  ntterly  lacking 
capacity  of  emotional  elevation,  and  capable  only 
of  belittling  the  subject  whereof  he  undertook  to 
treat.  The  published  discourse  met  "  fit  audience  " 
abroad,  and  was  re-issued  in  Scotland,  with  an 
appreciative  introductory  essay  by  Dr.  Wardlaw. 
There  is  reason  for  saying  that  this  sermon,  like 
Claudius  Buchanan's  "  Star  in  the  East,"  will  live 
long,  with  a  special  mission  for  some  susceptible 
minds  in  successive  generations,  quickening  their 
latent  aspirations,  and  aiding  them  to  realize  in 
action  their  true  life-aim. 

CHARACTERIZATION   OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  UTICA. 

While  the  call  of  the  First  Church  of  Providence 
was  before  me,  Dr.  Wayland  availed  himself  of 
every  opportunity  that  occurred,  to  assure  me  of 
the  coincidence  of  his  wishes  with  those  of  the 
church,  and  of  his  reliability  as  a  co-worker  in 
every  way  possible  for  my  "  aid  and  comfort  "  in 
the  pastorate.  He  thought  that  the  singular  com- 
bination of  events  that  had  issued  in  the  call  had 
a  meaning  yet  to  be  disclosed,  and  should  render 
me  cautious  as  to  declining.  His  suggestions  were 
encouraging.  Nevertheless,  my  reasons  for  declin- 
ing were  not  merely  negative.  From  another 
quarter  were  derived  motives  of  action  decidedly 


THE    WIDE    WORLD   FIELD.  1 29 

positive  and  controlling.     During  the  latter  part 
of  my  junior  and  tlie  whole  of  my  senior  year  in 
Hamilton  College  I  had  become  thoroughly  inter- 
ested  m  the  fortunes  of   the  Baptist   Church   in 
Utica,  then  meeting  in  Broad  Street ;   small  and 
weak    comparatively,  yet    representing,  as   I   be- 
lieved, a  great  cause  at  a  great  geographical  and 
moral  centre,  destined  to  be  the  source  of  forma- 
tive influences  for  good  or  evil  extending  over  a 
wide  area.     This  small  church,  the  sudden  storm 
of  the  anti-Masonic  controversy  had  tried  with  ex- 
ceptional severity,  rending  away  from  its  support 
those  whom  it  could  ill  spare.     Yet  there  was  a 
well-organized  remnant,  and  that  remnant,  in  the 
main,  composed  of  the  very  best  elements  as  to 
character,  religious  and  social.     From  the  centre 
of  that  little  church  went  forth,  week  by  week,  the 
chief  aggressive,  constructive,  and  organizing  force 
just  then  in  existence;  namely,  "The  New  York 
Baptist  Register,"  edited   by  Hon.  Alexander  M. 
Beebe,  LL.D.,  and,  as  to  its  department  of  busi- 
ness, managed  by  Mr.  Edward  Bright,  jun.,  whose 
forecast  and  persistent  energy  urged  it  onward  to 
win  its  way  to  the  new  homes  over  an  ever  widen- 
ing extent  of  territory.     "The  Register,"  then  in 
its  prime,  was  the  educator  of  a  rising  "people;" 
making  itself  felt  through  successive   years  as  a 
growing,  unifying,  denominational   power  in   the 
Empire  State. 


I30  LIFE  NOTES. 

In  regard  to  the  editor  of  that  paper,  Mr.  Beebc, 
no  one  feared,  while  he  was  living,  to  speak  of  his 
real  worth  as  a  man,  a  citizen,  and  a  Christian,  in 
terms  of  a  superlative  degree ;  now,  surveying  his 
life  as  a  completed  unity,  w^e  may  repeat  aptly  the 
exclamation,  "  Behold  the  perfect  man  !  "  He  was 
the  grandson  of  the  Presbyterian  patriarch  Rev. 
Dr.  McWhorter,  pastor,  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Newark,  N.J.;  was  educated  a  Pres- 
byterian ;  studied  law  in  the  same  office  wdth 
President  Van  Buren  ;  yet  at  last  found  his  main 
life-work  in  the  editorship  of ''The  Register."  He 
was  content ;  never  ambitious  of  a  higher  sphere 
on  this  earth,  and,  as  to  the  interplay  of  his  intel- 
lectual and  emotional  nature,  admirably  well  bal- 
anced, —  a  benefactor  to  the  community  in  general, 
and  to  his  denomination  in  particular.  To  him,  in 
his  somewhat  advanced  age,  Edward  Bright,  jun., 
in  his  youth  was  a  right-hand  man ;  a  coadjutor,  not 
only  carrying  the  cares  of  the  business,  but  sharing 
those  pertaining  to  the  moral  and  religious  ends 
and  aims  of  the  paper.  In  his  office,  at  one  time, 
he  placed  a  few  books  for  sale,  adapted  to  meet  the 
primary  denominational  needs  of  the  country;  and 
from  that  germ  grew  a  bookstore  that  did  good 
service  in  the  interests  of  general  literature  and 
science,  —  the  first  establishment  embracing  such  a 
combination  of  elements  west  of  Boston.     In  the 


THE    WIDE    WORLD   FIELD.  13T 

management  of  tlie  departments  as  a  practical 
unity,  editorial,  clerical,  mercantile,  or  financial, 
the  adjustment  of  aptitudes  was  perfect ;  and 
Utica  was  at  that  day  a  denominational  centre 
of  organization  for  the  State  of  New  York  west  of 
the  Hudson. 

That  little  church,  though  storm-tossed  and 
weakened,  was  even  then  beginning  to  make  its 
influence  felt  in  Asia  by  parting  with  Cephas 
Bennett  (with  Mrs.  Bennett),  to  go  forth  as 
missionary  printer  to  India,  where  to-day  may 
be  seen  the  proofs  of  more  than  a  half-century's 
effective  service.  In  local  home-work,  too,  there 
was  real  efficiency  in  proportion  to  numbers ;  an 
enthusiasm  of  biblical  study,  the  essential  life  of 
the  Sunday-school  institution,  pervading  the  whole, 
young  and  old  alike.  Memory  signalizes  the 
decade  beginning  with  1825  as,  in  fact,  a  Sunday- 
school  historical  era,  so  great  was  the  relative 
amount  of  intellectual  energy  concentrated  in  that 
direction.  Utica  then  as  a  Christian  community 
was  prominently  "at  the  front"  in  the  line  of 
progress ;  the  largest  school  in  the  city  being  that 
of  the  First  Presbj'terian,  unsurpassed  even  to 
this  day  as  to  method,  tone,  or  effectiveness,  and 
the  smaller  school,  under  the  superintendence  of 
Mr.  Bright,  as  to  ideal,  aim,  and  action  a  recog- 
nized  kinship.     Both   superintendents  took  rank 


132  LIFE  NOTES. 

as  leading  thinkers  and  workers  in  developing  the 
ca|)acities  of  the  Sunday  school  as  a  permanent 
institution,  then  comparatively  fresh  and  full  of 
life,  prophetic  of  a  future. 

EARLY  MIKISTRY   IN  UTICA. 

From  this  church  in  Utica  was  sent  to  me  a  call 
to  their  pastorate  about  the  time  that  the  call  to 
the  First  Church  of  Providence  lay  before  me. 
Immediately  on  its  reception  the  positive  reasons 
urged  for  its  acceptance  were  decisive.  All  the 
cherished  affections  pertaining  to  the  period  of 
my  college-life  in  their  vicinity  were  revived. 
Their  call  was  with  authority,  as  the  voice  of  the 
Supreme  Providence ;  and  I  resolved  to  accept, 
without  any  questioning  as  to  terms  or  conditions 
of  any  kind. 

That  was  a  decision  "  never  repented  of."  The 
sympathetic  pastor  at  Albany,  Rev.  Dr.  Welch, 
emphasized  his  felicitations  in  his  own  way,  and 
in  due  time  fulfilled  the  joromise  that  he  would 
be  present  at  the  ordination  festival,  and  preach 
the  sermon  of  that  occasion,  which  he  did  most 
happily  on  the  20th  of  October,  1829,  taking  his 
text  from  Acts  v.  20,  "Go,  stand  and  speak  in 
the  temple  to  the  people  all  the  words  of  this  life." 
On  the  Sunday  evening  following,  we  all  gathered 
around  him  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  in 


THE    WIDE    WORLD   FIELD.  1 33 

a  union  meeting,  at  the  invitation  of  the  pastor, 
Dr.  Aikin,  and  enjoyed  his  discourse  on  "  The 
Prayer  of  Jabez,"  addressed  to  a  crowded  audience. 
His  visitation  was  a  quickening  and  a  cheer  to 
our  little  church ;  small  as  it  seemed,  the  field  of 
work  was  ample.  There  was  no  need,  just  then, 
of  advertisements  to  gather  audiences.  Erelong 
there  were  responses  to  "  the  Word  preached  "  of 
the  kind  most  ardently  desired ;  and  a  succession 
of  baptisms  drew  several  thousands  at  a  time  to 
the  banks  of  the  Mohawk,  where  the  baptismal 
self-dedication  of  converts  confirmed  the  Word  as 
"  with  signs  following,"  and  uttered  appeals  that 
are  still  transmitting  themselves.  In  one  of  those 
throngs  thus  gathered,  least  observed  of  all,  or 
noticed,  stood  a  Scotch  bo}^  who,  as  he  beheld  and 
mused,  said  in  his  heart,  "  This  is  just  what  Jesus 
meant."  Soon  he  followed  in  the  same  path,  in 
the  presence  of  many  witnesses,  and  has  been 
already,  more  than  a  third  of  a  century,  engaged 
in  winning  and  guiding  others,  well  known  in  the 
far  West  as  Rev.  A.  Cleghorn,  D.D.  Our  joyous 
recognition  more  than  twelve  years  ago,  at  a 
Western  convention,  revived  the  memory  of  the 
scenes  long  past,  as  scenes  of  youth,  and  rendered 
that  memory  an  inspiration  of  worship. 


134  I-^F^  NOTES. 

ONLY   ONE   SORROW:    CLIMATIC   INTERFERENCE. 

It  might  be  inferred,  from  our  incidental  al- 
lusions, that  the  Sjoirit  of  inter-denominational 
Christian  union  was  a  cheerful  feature  of  the 
time  whereof  we  write.  It  was  so  ;  and  from  that 
day  to  this  we  have  rarely  seen  in  any  community 
a  more  genuine  catholicity  in  social  life,  or  more 
readiness  of  ministers  and  people  to  unite  in  work 
for  the  common  service.  In  Broad  Street,  nearly 
opposite  our  own  place  of  worship,  was  that  of 
the  Reformed  (Dutch)  Presbyterians,  where  Rev. 
George  W.  Bethune,  D.D.,  a  friend  of  my  school- 
days, was  pastor.  Though  topographically  oppo- 
site, there  was  no  opposition  of  interests.  No  two 
bodies  of  people,  even  of  "the  same  faith  and 
order,"  were  seen  more  freely  intermingling  on  all 
occasions  of  worship,  as  opportunity  offered.  In- 
deed, the  remembrances  of  my  first  pastorate  are 
associated  with  only  one  personal  sorrow  ;  namely, 
the  necessity  that  called  forth  the  physician's  pre- 
scription of  a  change  of  climate  for  a  disorder  of 
the  vocal  organs,  threatening  a  loss  of  voice.  It 
seems  now  that  my  residence  so  near  the  river  was 
a  sanitary  mistake.  Thus  my  ministry  in  Utica, 
too  brief,  was  ended,  not  to  accept  a  call  from  an- 
other church,  but  to  enter  upon  a  different  sphere 
of  action,  —  the  professorship  of  Latin  and  Greek 


TFIE    WIDE    WORLD   FIELD.  1 35 

in  Georgetown  College,  Kentucky.  The  long  jour- 
ney and  the  climatic  change  restored  my  voice  ; 
and  then,  erelong,  I  gave  up  the  professorship,  and 
returned  to  the  pulpit  by  accepting  a  call  to  the 
pastorate  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Boston. 

The  year  of  that  departure  (1830)  witnessed 
the  incorporation  of  Utica  as  a  city,  with  a  popu- 
lation of  less  than  nine  thousand.  Now,  with  a 
population  of  nearly  forty  thousand,  it  signalizes 
the  gradual  growth  and  thrift  of  Central  New 
York.  There  the  denominational  banner  of  the 
Baptists  was  first  uplifted  by  the  Welsh,  always 
intent  upon  claiming  the  highest  historical  origin 
possible  for  their  faith  as  well  as  for  their  race. 
They  constituted  the  First  Baptist  Church.  The 
Second  was  the  one  meeting  in  Broad  Street, 
which,  under  the  ministry  of  Rev.  A.  S.  Patton, 
D.D.,  in  1864,  changed  its  locality  and  its  name, 
entered  a  new  and  beautiful  house  of  worship 
upon  "the  Hill,"  recognized  as  "the  Tabernacle 
Baptist  Church."  From  this  Second  sprang  the 
Third,  to  which  Rev.  D.  G.  Corey,  D.D.,  has  min- 
istered for  more  than  a  third  of  a  century  without 
interruption.  Despite  all  changes.  Central  New 
York,  with  its  schools  and  universities,  having  a 
history  of  its  own,  has  kept  step  with  the  age,  and 
fulfilled  —  if  not  all  the  prophecies  —  the  sober 
promises  of  its  bright  beginnings  in  its  relations 
to  the  State  and  the  country,  old  and  new. 


136  LIFE  NOTES. 


X. 

OLD  BOSTON. 
TRANSITION   PERIOD. 

Toward  the  close  of  December,  1830,  after 
contrasted  experiences  of  the  pain  of  parting 
from  the  friends  within  and  around  Georgetown 
College,  Kentucky,  and  the  exhilaration  of  the 
return  journey  to  the  North  with  a  lost  voice  fully 
restored,  came  the  welcome  to  Boston  as  a  field  of 
work  and  predestined  home;  the  old  acquaint- 
anceship pertaining  to  the  period  of  student-life 
in  the  vicinity  rendering  it  truly  homelike.  Com- 
paratively, the  time  of  this  return  seems  now 
quite  noteworth}^  as  a  point  of  transition.  Old 
Boston  was  just  then  beginning  to  pass  away ;  and 
the  common  talk  was  lively  with  guesses  as  to  the 
future  of  the  New  Boston  that  was  to  rise  in 
the  suburbs,  whither  the  trade-power  was  threat- 
ening to  remove  the  homesteads  and  family-life  of 
the  old  historical  city.  The  chief  chronological 
point  of  distinction  between  the  old  and  the  new 
may  be  discerned  by  the  youngest  reader  in  the 


OLD  BOSTON.  1 37 

light  of  tlie  fact,  that  only  two  years  before  (1828) 
we  had  listened  to  Edward  Everett,  in  Faneuil 
Hall,  calling  upon  the  capitalists  of  Boston  to 
prove  themselves  equal  to  the  demands  of  the  age 
by  investing  their  money  in  enterprises  that  would 
give  them  the  mastery  of  their  future ;  using  all 
his  art  of  argumentation  to  convince  them  that 
railroads  would  pay !  With  what  contrasted  tones 
did  he  complain  that  Boston  was  so  slow,  and 
then  tauntingly  exclaim,  "New  York  saj^s  that 
the  grass  will  soon  be  growing  in  Boston  streets ! " 
That  oration  was  addressed  to  Old  Boston,  but  it 
was  soon  "  out  of  time ; "  and  some  one  has  said, 
"  The  new  era  dawned  the  next  morning." 

PERSISTENCY   OF   THE   OLD   PAST. 

But  then,  "the  Old,"  though  thus  disturbed, 
lingered  long ;  looking  back,  loath  to  leave  the 
old  homesteads,  or  to  see  family-life  "  emigrating  " 
from  them.  Hence  it  was  my  fortune  to  begin 
my  ministry,  in  a  good  degree,  among  those  who 
were  a  imrt  of  that  past^  and  thus  rendering  tlie 
leading  men  and  women  of  the  departed  genera- 
tion "a  living  presence"  to  our  thought  and  feel- 
ing. Thus,  in  making  the  acquaintance  of  my 
"  parish,"  I  found  myself  at  the  centre  of  a  social 
circle  wherein  one  of  the  most  eminent  ministers 
of  the  last  century,  Rev.  Samuel  Stillman,  D.D., 


138  LIFE  NOTES. 

was  incidentally  alluded  to,  day  by  day,  as  if  he 
had  been  my  immediate  predecessor,  although 
he  had  been  absent  from  this  world  twenty-three 
years,  having  died  in  1807,  the  year  before  my 
birth.  Four  pastorates  had  intervened  between 
Dr.  Stillman's  and  my  own,  including  Rev.  James 
M.  Winchell's,  of  six  years'  duration ;  Dr.  Francis 
Wayland's,  of  five  years ;  and  Cyrus  Pitt  Grosev- 
nor's,  of  four  years.  These  were  all  well  remem- 
bered, but  the  mere  mention  of  Dr.  Stillman's 
name  would  call  forth  allusions  of  such  pictorial 
naturalness  as  to  make  him  seemingly  my  contem- 
porary. That  illusion  grew  into  a  sort  of  mental 
habitude,  so  that  it  required  sometimes  a  second 
thought  to  place  one's  self  chronologically  right  in 
relation  to  him. 

Tliis  vividness  of  impression  in  regard  to  men 
and  things,  actors  and  factors  of  the  past,  did  not 
pertain  merely  to  my  own  parochial  surroundings, 
but  to  the  broader  area  of  relationship  sustained 
by  the  ministry  of  the  old  First  Church  during 
the  previous  half-century.  An  illustration  of  this 
remark  presents  itself  in  an  incident  associated 
with  my  installation,  wherein  Dr.  Way  land 
officiated  as  the  preacher.  The  first  offer  of  an 
exchange  of  pulpit  services  came  to  me  from  an 
eminent  clergyman  of  another  denomination,  whom 
I  had  known  of  historically  as  a  trusted  leader 


OLD   BOSTON.  1 39 

and  recognized  exponent  of  evangelical  Chris- 
tianity during  the  period  of  conflict  that  broke 
organic  Congregationalism  into  two  parties,  dis- 
tinguished as  Unitarian  and  Orthodox,  —  Rev. 
John  Codman,  D.D.,  of  Dorchester,  who,  like  the 
true  and  valiant  shepherd  that  loves  the  flock  as 
his  ver}^  life,  had  grandly  kept  his  charge  within 
the  old  fold.  At  first  sight  of  him,  on  the  evening 
of  Feb.  3,  1831,  I  was  impressed  with  the  expres- 
sion of  his  noble  physique,  the  realized  ideal  of 
patriarchal  dignity.  As  soon  as  the  "  Amen " 
of  the  benediction  was  sounded  forth,  he  took  my 
hand  cordially,  saying,  "In  years  long  gone  it  was 
my  privilege  to  exchange  pulpit  services  with  your 
excellent  predecessor.  Dr.  Stillman ;  and  now,  be 
assured,  it  is  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  welcome 
his  young  successor  here,  and  to  propose  a  con- 
tinuance of  the  courtesies  so  long  and  so  happily 
remembered."  That  kindly  welcome,  as  spoken 
then  and  there,  was  alive  with  fresh  suggestion 
as  to  the  significance  of  the  occasion  in  its  con- 
nection with  that  stormy  old  past  wherein  the 
weak  "  Orthodox  remnant "  had  found  cheer  and 
help  in  its  recognition  of  spiritual  kinship  with 
the  rising  Baptist  brotherhood  of  that  day.  Re- 
garded as  a  representative  character,  the  very 
presence  of  Dr.  Codman  at  the  installation  w^ould 
have    sufficed,    of    itself,    to    revive    many    dim 


140  LIFE  NOTES. 

memories  of  that  epochal  history,  and  to  start 
fresh  questionings  as  to  its  import.  Dr.  Channing, 
who  was  also  the  contemporary  of  Stillman,  was 
then  still  speaking  to  the  great  public  through  the 
press  as  well  as  the  pulpit,  giving  freer  scope  to 
his  pen  after  the  settlement  of  his  colleague.  Dr. 
Ezra  S.  Gannett.  Thus,  at  the  very  outset,  our 
immediate  church  surroundings  were  notably  dis- 
tinguished by  the  presence  of  veteran  leaders 
whose  pronounced  names  suggested  all  that  was 
characteristic  in  the  conflicting  movements  of  the 
preceding  half-century. 

NEW   ERA   OF   RECOXSTPtUCTIONS. 

At  that  time,  the  beginning  of  1831,  Rev.  Dr. 
Lyman  Beecher  had  fulfilled  five  years  of  the 
decade  comprising  his  Boston  ministry,  undertaken 
in  1826  with  the  view  of  re-organizing  the  scattered 
forces  of  evangelical  Congregationalism,  construct- 
ing or  reconstructing  for  it  new  churches  and 
church  edifices,  not  only  in  the  metropolitan  cen- 
tre, but  in  the  old  historic  towns  where  "  Liberal 
Christianity  "  had  taken  possession  of  the  ancient 
heritage,  claiming  the  prestige  of  parochial  and 
legal  heirship.  The  Liberals,  with  Cambridge  as 
their  centre,  supreme  in  the  University,  ruled  the 
State.  Litigation  in  the  courts  about  the  titles  to 
church  property  had  nearly  reached  its  limit.     As 


OLD  BOSTON.  I4I 

yet,  however,  Congregationalism  was  legally  "  the 
standing  order,"  and  taxation  for  its  support  was 
universal,  except  in  those  cases  for  which  the  ad- 
justed law  had  necessarily  provided  exemption  by 
means  of  "signing  off"  a  written  declaration  of 
attendance  upon  some  other  form  of  denomina- 
tional worship.  Not  till  1834  was  the  Church  and 
State  completely  separated  in  Massachusetts  as  it 
was  in  the  other  States  of  the  Union,  and  as  it  had 
been  in  Rhode  Island  from  the  beginning.  Under 
these  conditions,  the  revival  of  evangelical  Con- 
gregationalism was  identical  with  the  revival  of 
Scriptural  Christianity  as  an  experience  of  the  in- 
dividual soul,  implying  a  real  personal  conversion 
or  voluntary  self-surrender  to  Christ,  responsive 
to  his  divine  call.  This  conscious  heart-union  to 
him  as  the  supreme  requisition,  and  strict  fidelity 
to  that  main  idea  in  eloquent  and  effective  preach- 
ing, was  the  one  memorable  distinction  of  Dr. 
Beecher's  ministry.  He  was  then  as  in  the  prime 
of  his  life,  "  his  natural  force  unabated ; "  in  love 
with  his  accepted  mission,  filling  his  own  pulpit 
and  meeting  other  weekly  appointments  —  often 
out  of  the  city  and  far  away  —  with  all  the  per- 
sistency of  the  most  highly  paid  lyceum  lecturer  ; 
addressing  crowds  in  the  spirit  of  that  pure  revi- 
valism whereof  he  was  then  the  chief  exponent ; 
realizing  its  unmarred  ideal,  and  doing  his   best 


142  LIFE  NOTES. 

to  make  it  what  it  became  at  last  in  the  history 
of  the  period, — a  characterizing  and  redeeming 
feature. 

RELATION  OF  THE  BAPTISTS  TO   THAT  ERA. 

In  this  connection  we  may  properly  remark, 
that  Dr.  Beecher,  after  having  become  acquainted 
with  his  field  in  Massachusetts,  recognized,  like 
Dr.  Codman,  the  special  relation  of  the  Baptists 
as  fellow-helpers  in  the  common  cause  of  evan- 
gelical religion,  and  aptly  jiut  that  recognition  as 
part  of  a  sermon  delivered  from  the  pulpit  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church  as  early  as  1829,  frankly  say- 
ing, ''  Your  light  was  kept  burning  and  shining 
when  ours  had  gone  out."  To  that  ancient 
church  he  was  a  welcomed  neighbor ;  the  granite 
edifice  wherein  he  ministered  being  near,  and  con- 
tinuously a  point  of  attraction  until  its  destruction 
by  fire,  when  the  interest  was  transferred  from 
Hanover  Street  to  the  new  structure  in  Bowdoin 
Street,  where  the  Doctor  preached  his  farewell 
sermon  after  his  acceptance  of  the  presidency  of 
Lane  Seminary,  Ohio.  Dear  and  grand  old  man  ! 
I  ought  to  love  and  honor  him ;  for  not  only  was 
his  personality  in  the  pulpit  an  uplifting  force, 
but  also  that  freedom  of  communication  which  he 
heartily  encouraged  by  welcoming  me  even  to  his 
study,  and  treating  me  as  a  son. 


OLD  BOSTON.  1 43 

EELATTYE   POSITTOX   OF   THE   FIRST   CHURCH. 

At  the  time  noted  above,  when  Dr.  Beecher 
sounded  forth  that  quoted  testmiony  from  the 
pulpit  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  —  "  Your  light 
was  kept  burning  and  shining  ^yhen  ours  had  gone 
out,"  —  that  church  was  regarded,  essentially  in 
its  representative  relation,  as  expressing  the  ideas 
and  spirit  of  "  a  people  "  denominationally  organ- 
ized, having  a  history  of  its  own.  And  3'et  that 
First  Church  was,  of  itself,  an  object  of  interest 
as  the  monumental  witness  of  a  marvellous  past, 
suggestive  of  an  enduring  future.  Its  deaconship 
was  composed  of  five  men,  the  majority  of  whom 
had  been  co-workers  under  the  ministry  of  Dr. 
Stillman, —  James  Loring,  a  veteran  publisher,  and 
the  founder  of  "  The  Watchman,"  the  second 
weekly  religious  paper  issued  in  the  United  States; 
Prince  Snow,  though  beyond  the  bound  of  "  three- 
score and  ten,"  tall,  stately,  and  "straight  as  an  ar- 
row" as  he  walked,  remembered,  too,  as  the  father 
of  Dr.  SnoAV,  author  of  the  history  of  Boston; 
then,  Deacon  John  Sullivan,  the  first  West-Indian 
merchant  who  had  won  the  honors  of  leadership  in 
the  cause  of  temperance  by  sacrificing  a  lucrative 
business  to  his  convictions,  destroying  the  poi- 
sonous beverage  by  offering  the  costly  libation, 
poured  forth  into  the  open  street  of  Commercial 


144  ^^^^  NOTES. 

Wliarf,  as  the  proper  sequel  to  a  sermon  of  Dr. 
Wayland.  The  choice  of  the  mild  and  peace- 
making Urann  Avas  of  a  later  date.  And,  last  of 
all,  Moses  Pond,  most  happily  for  us,  v/as  chosen 
as  the  fitting  representative  of  the  younger  gen- 
eration.^ 

THE   REPRESENTATIVE   SEXTON. 

Tlien,  besides  the  deaconship  was  another  office; 
namely,  the  sextonship,  that  had  long  seemed  like 
a  "permanent  institution  "  in  the  person  of  Father 
Winslow,  a  venerable  old  man,  all  life  and  nerve, 
and,  despite  all  changes,  abuut  as  young  as  ever. 
Such  was  the  common  saying.  The  cut  of  his 
dress,  his  whole  attire,  including  particularly  the 
old-fashioned  queue,  in  keeping  with  the  style 
of  Colonial  days,  were  suggestive  of  an  original 
character,  decidedl}^  positive,  having  sources  of 
strength  within  itself.  In  accordance  with  ancient 
custom,  it  had  been  his  wont,  of  old,  to  precede 
his  pastor,  Dr.  Stillman,  u[)  the  broad  aisle,  and 
deferentially  open  the  pulpit  door  for  his  conven- 
ience. In  process  of  change,  the  pulpit  became 
proximately  a  jilatform  :  there  were  no  doors  to  be 
opened;  and,  as  to  that  formal  service,  it  was  said, 
"The  sexton's  occui)ation  is  gone."  But  his  field 
of  work  was  broad,  and  as  a  veteran  undertaker  he 

1  See  Appeudices,  page  327. 


OLD  BOSTON.  1 45 

dignified  his  calling ;  well  known  throughout  the 
old  city,  and  kindly  greeted  everyAvhere.  Of  the 
memories  associated  with  this  part  of  his  life-work, 
one  occurs  more  frequently  than  the  rest,  on  ac- 
count of  its  connection  with  a  name  that  has 
become  more  and  more  widely  spoken  from  that 
day  to  the  present.  Having  opened  for  me  the 
door  of  the  carriage  that  he  had  sent  to  convey 
me  to  "the  house  of  mourning"  where  he  had 
charge  of  the  funeral,  he  detained  me  to  say  that 
it  was  now  expected  by  the  friends  of  the  deceased 
that  the  young  minister  of  the  Unitarian  church 
in  Hanover  Street  —  Rev.  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson 
—  would  be  present,  and  that  they  would  be 
pleased  to  have  the  service  so  arranged  as  to  in- 
clude a  participation  on  his  part.  I  replied  that  I 
should  be  happy  to  fulfil  the  wishes  of  the  mourn- 
ers in  that  particular.  "  Very  well,"  said  the  old 
gentleman,  "very  well.  But  I  will  tell  you  here, 
that,  while  Mr.  Emerson's  people  think  so  highly 
of  him,  he  does  not  make  his  best  impression  at 
a  funeral ;  in  fact,  he  does  not  seem  to  be  at  ease 
at  all,  but  rather  shy  and  retiring.  To  tell  the 
truth,  in  my  opinion,  that  young  man  was  not 
born  to  be  a  minister."  The  quaint  manner  of 
the  old  sexton  gave  emphasis  to  this  unexpectedly 
outspoken  opinion.  It  must  have  seemed,  if  over- 
heard, an  exceptionally  strange  impromptu^  consid- 


146  LIFE   NOTES. 

eriiig  the  position  of  the  speaker,  the  time,  and 
the  place.  But  after  all,  and  stranger  still,  the 
quaint  old  man's  instincts  were  quick,  keen,  and 
prophetic.  Erelong  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson 
uttered  the  same  opinion  of  himself,  took  himself 
entirely  out  of  the  rank  of  ministers,  concentrated 
his  mental  force  upon  the  transcendental  commun- 
ion with  "  Nature,"  summarizing  his  thought  and 
purpose  in  the  words  that  he  repeated  with  an 
emphasis  all  his  own :  "  What  I  am  born  to  be,  I 
will  be."  Thus  our  little  episode  brings  back  to 
the  eye  of  memory  the  representative  sexton,  the 
ancient  and  honored  ''Father  Winslow,"  in  the 
twofold  character  of  sexton  and  prophet. 


GARRISON  AND    THOMPSON  1 4/ 


XI. 

GARRISON   AND   THOMPSON. 
AGITATING  QUESTIONS,   OLD  AND  NEW. 

Already  Ave  have  had  occasion  to  notice  the 
advent  of  the  railway  power  as  the  chronological 
point  of  distinction  between  Old  and  New  Boston, 
Within  the  brief  course  of  three  or  four  years 
(1830-34)  we  witnessed  the  settlement  of  the  one 
great  question  that  had  shaken  the  Commonwealth 
during  the  preceding  lialf-century,  and  the  rise  of 
another  that  was  destined  to  shake  thoroughly 
both  the  State  and  the  nation  during  that  eventful 
tliird  of  a  century  upon  which  we  were  then  enter- 
ing. Both  of  these  questions  agitated  the  whole 
community  at  once,  because  they  both  combined 
religious  and  political  elements,  and  were  recog- 
nized as  politico-religious  questions.  The  first 
leading  issue  was  the  entire  separation  of  Church 
and  State,  regarded  as  organisms  ;  the  second  was 
"the  slavery  question,"  which  was  effectually 
settled  in  1865  by  the  overthrow  of  the  slave 
power,  and  the  constitutional  establishment  of  free- 


148  LIFE   NOTES. 

dom  as  an  inalienable  birthright,  no  longer  sec- 
tional, but  national. 

In  regard  to  the  first  question,  one  has  often 
occasion  to  observe,  that,  while  everybody  knows 
how  rigidly  Congregationalism  was  maintained  as 
the  legally  established  religion  in  Colonial  days, 
comparatively  few  now  remember  with  what  per- 
sistency, throughout  the  old  Bay  State,  the  old 
system  struggled  to  sustain  itself  by  universal 
taxation  long  after  it  had  been  abolished  by  the 
other  States  of  the  Union.  For  obvious  reasons 
the  denominational  trend  of  the  Baptists  had  long 
been  normally  toward  the  Democratic  party,  and 
continued  so  until  new  issues  ruled  the  relations 
of  parties  by  the  power  of  new  ideas.  But  this 
original  trend  lasted  long,  asserting  itself  in  vari- 
ous directions.  Throughout  and  beyond  the  time 
here  noted  as  a  transitional  period,  the  president 
of  the  First  Baptist  Society's  Trusteeship,  the  Hon. 
John  K.  Simpson,  though  rejecting  all  offers  of 
political  office,  was  often  spoken  of  as  virtually  a 
member  of  President  Jackson's  cabinet.  Thus  it 
occurred  that  in  the  early  summer  of  1833,  when 
the  President  and  his  suite  left  Washington  for 
a  visit  to  New  England,  including  a  sabbath  in 
Boston,  the  programme  indicated  the  First  Baptist 
Church  as  their  chosen  place  of  worship. 

To  the  last  moment  of  the  last  legislative  debate 


GARRISON  AND    THOMPSON  1 49 

the  conservatives  were  as  intent  as  ever  upon  sus- 
taining the  okl  reijime.  The  most  memorable 
speech  in  its  defence  was  made  by  the  Hon.  Alex- 
ander H.  Everett,  who  based  his  argument  upon 
the  ground  of  educational  necessity.  All,  of  every 
class,  he  said,  demand  legislative  provision  for  the 
support  of  public  schools;  but  in  Massachusetts 
the  school  and  the  church  had  always  been  re- 
garded as  equally  essential  to  educational  advance- 
ment and  the  stability  of  Christian  civilization. 
They  had,  from  the  beginning,  been  "joined  to- 
gether," and  he  distrusted  the  policy  that  would 
"  put  them  asunder."  They  stood  together  in  the 
same  relation  to  the  State  as  necessary  means  to  a 
main  end,  alike  deserving  and  claiming  legal  sup- 
port. Personally,  his  position  was  somewhat  excep- 
tional, being  at  once  a  Unitarian  and  a  Democrat ; 
afterward,  indeed,  as  a  Democrat,  he  was  appointed 
Minister  to  China.  It  is  here  worthy  of  note,  how- 
ever, that  the  Unitarians,  then  generally  of  the 
Whig  party,  voted  heartily  with  the  Baptists  for 
the  dissolution  of  this  legal  bond. 

Toward  the  end  the  battle  "  waxed  hot,"  but  the 
victory  of  religious  freedom  soon  clarified  the 
atmosphere.  As  the  smoke  of  conflict  passed  off, 
the  defeated  conservatives  "  accepted  the  situa- 
tion "  gracefully,  without  audible  wailing  over  "the 
lost  cause,"  and  learned  to  appreciate  the  gain  of 


150  LIFE  NOTES. 

a  clear  field  with  its  improved  conditions  for 
"making  history,"  and  rendering  the  future  bet- 
ter than  the  past. 

THE   NEW   QUESTION   STATED. 

The  second  great  agitating  question  of  the  pe- 
riod sprang  forth  suddenly  within  our  own  im- 
mediate vicinity  and  circle  of  acquaintanceship, 
marring  the  denominational  and  social  unities  tliat 
had  distinguished  the  past.  As  to  the  essential 
principle,  the  underlying  sentiment,  the  moral 
basis  of  action,  there  was,  within  our  familiar  range 
of  daily  observation  and  intercourse,  a  real  unity; 
the  one  turning-point  of  division  was  the  alter- 
native, gradual  or  immediate  emancipation.  Around 
and  w^ithin  the  widening  area  of  our  relationships 
there  was  a  strong  anti-slavery  sentiment,  that  had 
found  a  partial  expression,  for  a  succession  of 
years,  in  co-operation  with  the  American  Colo- 
nization Society,  originated  by  the  best  men  of 
Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  the  North,  in  the  interest 
of  gradual  emancipation  as  well  as  for  the  national- 
ization of  the  colored  race  on  the  coast  of  Africa 
in  the  form  of  a  Christianized  republic.  Such  a 
republic,  it  was  believed,  when  acknowledged  by 
the  national  governments  of  Europe  and  the  United 
States,  would  be  an  uplifting  power,  not  only  for 
the  "Dark  Continent,"  but  for  t4ie  colored  race 


GARRISON  AND    THOMPSON.  151 

everywhere.  At  the  starting-point  the  aim  was 
right,  and  the  method  apparently  the  best  possible. 
The  political  leaders  of  South  Carolina,  however, 
erelong  denounced  the  scheme  as  an  antagonism 
to  their  positive  idea  of  the  'permanence  of  the  slave- 
relation,  imprisoned  the  colonizationist  agents, 
threatened  to  hang  them  if  they  persisted  in  pub- 
licly advocating  their  cause,  and  then  at  last 
adroitly  won  over  to  their  own  opinions,  theoret- 
ically or  practically,  the  Southern  mind  at  large, 
creating  thus  a  unity  unmatched  in  history. 

RELATIVE   POSITION   AXD   POAVER    OF   GARRISON. 

This  extreme  issue  Mr.  William  Lloyd  Garrison 
saw  clearly  before  it  had  developed  itself  to  the 
view  of  the  Northern  public.  He  always  had  the 
courage  of  his  convictions ;  a  simple  truth  once 
discerned,  however  unwelcome,  must  assert  itself. 
He  not  only  availed  himself  of  the  weekly  press, 
but  put  forth  a  weighty  pamphlet,  replete  with 
facts,  argumentation,  and  appeal,  and  characterized 
the  whole  scheme  of  colonization  as  a  conspiracy 
against  the  rights  of  the  colored  race,  using  epi- 
thetic  adjectives  without  stint,  all  in  the  superla- 
tive degree.  As  at  that  time  I  had  been  elected 
in  the  place  of  Rev.  Dr.  Howard  Malcom,  who  had 
left  the  city,  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Aux- 
iliary Colonization  Board,  whose  special  work  was 


152  LIFE   NOTES. 

school  education  in  Africa,  I  was  present  at  its 
meeting  when  the  great  pamphlet  of  Mr.  Garrison, 
fresh  from  the  press,  was  brought  in,  and  placed 
upon  the  table.  Dr.  J.  V.  C.  Smith,  afterwards 
mayor  of  Boston,  presided.  The  Hon.  Alexander 
H.  Everett  was  thoroughly  incensed,  and  said  that 
the  writer  should  be  indicted  for  libel.  The  occa- 
sion led  me  to  observe  that  there  were  colonization- 
ists  and  colonizationists,  —  two  classes:  the  original 
Virginian  type,  represented  by  such  men  as  Judge 
Washington  and  Mr.  Custis  of  Arlington  ;  and  the 
contrasted  South-Carolinian  type,  represented  by 
all  the  leading  men  aiming  at  nullification,  who 
had,  with  persistent  energy  and  strategic  skill,  been 
gaining  an  ascendency  over  the  sympathies  and 
the  public  sentiment  of  the  whole  South.  These 
two  classes  were  like  the  two  baskets  of  figs  shown 
in  vision  to  the  Hebrew  prophet :  the  good  were 
very  good,  and  the  bad  very  bad ;  representing,  as 
Jeremiah  explained,  "  the  house  of  Israel "  in  his 
day.  To  some,  the  plain  facts  in  their  true  rela- 
tions may  not,  just  now,  seem  quite  clear  in  the  dim 
distance ;  but  fortunately,  by  way  of  exposition, 
the  leading  article  of  "  The  American  Colonization 
Journal's"  issue  for  October,  1830,  entitled  "An 
Appeal  to  South  Carolina,"  tells  the  real  story  of 
the  time  to  an  intelligent  reader,  and  is  historically 
significant.     Mr.  Garrison,  as  author  of  the  pam- 


GARRISON  AND    THOMPSON.  1 53 

plilet,  comes  before  us  as  a  narrator  of  plain  facts, 
revealing  virtually  the  growth  of  this  South-Caro- 
linian element,  and  prophetic  of  startling  issues : 
hence  it  seemed  to  me  that  we  should  accept  the 
two  sets  of  facts  with  their  particular  meanings, 
discriminating  between  good  and  evil,  and  avoid 
confounding  things  that  differ. 

In  view  of  this  state  of  things,  it  must  be  evident, 
even  to  the  youngest  reader,  that  when  Mr.  Garri- 
son, through  "  The  Liberator,"  denouncing  slave- 
holding  as  a  sin  against  God  and  humanity,  called 
upon  the  nation  for  repentance  of  that  sin,  and 
innnediate  abjuration  of  it,  there  was  a  power  of 
truth  and  right  in  his  appeal  that  touched  millions 
of  consciences,  issuing  in  a  division  of  parties ;  the 
one  side  grounded  upon  the  idea  of  what  was 
tlieoretically  right,  the  other  upon  the  idea  of  what 
was  immediately  practicable,  and  that  to  these  of 
the  latter  class  the  clarion  call  was  startling,  just 
as  a  jubilee  trumpet  in  ancient  Israel  would  have 
seemed  if  sounded  over  the  land  before  the  set 
time.  Even  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  appeared  in  the 
view  of  many  unlike  himself  in  his  manner  of 
pleading  for  exceptional  indulgence  in  the  treat- 
ment of  organic  sin.  Nevertheless,  within  our  own 
denominational  surroundings  the  profound  respect 
for  genuine  convictions,  for  liberty  of  conscience 
and  of  speech,  was  a  regulating  power,  keeping  the 


154  LIFE  NOTES. 

organized  bodies  "  compact  together,"  and,  despite 
all  differences,  effectively  one  in  a  common  interest 
for  missionary  enterprise  at  home  and  abroad.  At 
the  same  time,  the  intense  and  growing  faith  in  the 
safety  of  immediate  repentance  for  all  wrong,  and 
of  doing  right  at  once,  under  all  circumstances, 
began  to  assert  and  organize  itself  for  concentrated 
work  in  its  own  line  of  direction,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Timothy  Gilbert,  ''a  grand,  whole-souled 
Abolitionist,"  of  wliose  life-work  Tremont  Temple 
is  a  lasting  memorial,  and  whose  biography,  written 
by  Dr.  Justin  D.  Fulton,  is  a  timely  contribution 
to  the  local  history  of  the  period. 

GREETING  OF  HOX.  GEORGE  THOMPSON. 

The  profound  respect  for  genuine  convictions 
and  freedom  of  utterance,  noted  above  as  a  regu- 
lating power,  was  called  forth  into  public  expres- 
sion by  the  arrival  in  Boston  of  the  eminent 
English  orator  and  philanthropist  Mr.  George 
Thompson,  as  the  coadjutor  of  Mr.  Garrison  in 
arousing  the  people  to  concerted  action.  In  his 
own  country  Mr.  Thompson  had  already  signalized 
his  career  by  victories  in  the  cause  of  the  Right, 
appealing  to  the  people  against  the  selfish  tyranny 
of  the  English  administration  in  India,  and  thus 
created  a  public  opinion  that  the  government  was 
obliged  to  recognize  in  his  utterance  as  the  voice 


G ARK/SON  A. YD    TIIOMPSOiV.  I $5 

of  the  nation.  He  had  been  faithful  at  home  in 
the  canse  of  universal  right,  and  that  cause  was 
not  Christian  England's  only,  but  our  own  as  well. 
The  political  press  generally,  North  and  South, 
greeted  his  advent  here  in  terms  of  the  most 
resentful  disparagement  touching  the  man  and  his 
mission ;  treating  it  as  a  specimen  of  obtrusive 
English  interference  with  Amei'ican  affairs,  in- 
spired by  the  base  motives  of  enmity  and  greed, 
and  thence  calling  upon  the  pul)lic  at  large  to 
ignore  the  pretentious  stranger.  Upon  all  those, 
however,  who  met  Mr.  Thompson  personally,  he 
made  a  most  favorable  impression  ;  and  so,  havhig 
learned  that  he  had  been  in  due  form  accredited 
by  a  Congregational  church  in  London,  several 
years  before,  as  an  acceptable  preacher  of  the 
gospel,  I  invited  him  at  once  to  occupy  the  pulpit 
of  the  First  Baptist  Church  on  the  following  Sun- 
day afternoon.  The  house,  centrally  situated,  was 
crowded ;  and  the  sermon,  on  "  Christ  the  Great 
Atoner,"  was  heard  with  sympathetic  interest,  and 
welcomed  most  cordially  by  those  who,  as  evangeli- 
cal Christians,  were  recognized  as  persons  of  repre- 
sentative character.  That  hospitable  greeting  Mr. 
Thompson  never  forgot.  Several  years  afterwards, 
while  I  was  passing  a  month  in  London,  he  made 
of  it  the  most  grateful  mention  possible.  We  often 
met  at  the  house  of  a  mutual  friend,  Mr.  Moore, 


156  LIFE  NOTES. 

one  of  the  leading  men  of  the  church  to  which 
Mr.  Spurgeon  now  ministers,  and  father-in-law  of 
Rev.  Dr.  R.  W.  Cushman.  He  was  then  in  his 
prime,  as  zealous  for  the  cause  of  universal  right 
in  relation  to  Asia  as  he  had  been  in  its  relation  to 
America.  He  invited  me  to  accompany  him  to 
one  of  his  great  India-meetings,  held  in  Exeter 
Hall,  called  for  the  purpose  of  arraigning  the  Eng- 
lish administration  in  India ;  and  favored  me  with 
a  chair  on  the  platform,  near  himself  and  John 
Howard  Ilinton  on  one  side,  and  Daniel  O'Connell 
on  the  other.  Lord  Brougham  presided ;  in  speak- 
ing was  "  at  his  best ;  "  referred  to  Mr.  Thompson 
as  the  heroic  orator  of  England,  and  predicted  his 
election  as  a  member  of  the  British  Parliament. 
That  expression  called  forth  a  warm  res]3onse. 


THE    TRANSITION  PERIOD.  15/ 


XII. 

THE  TEANSITION  PEEIOD. 
EFFECTIVE  MEN   OF  THE  EPOCH. 

The   settlement   of  the   question   of   religious 
liberty,  and  the  rise  of  "  the  slavery  question  "  as 
a  national  party  issue,  has  been  noted  as  pertain- 
ing to  a  transition  period  (1830-34),  chronologi- 
cally distinguishing   Old   and   New   Boston,  and 
heralded  in   Faneuil   Hall  by  Edward   Everett's 
appeal  to  the  men  of  Boston  for  the  investment 
of  capital  in  the  construction  of  railroads.     Asso- 
ciated with  this  period  — namely,  the  beginning  of 
1830  — is  the  achievement  of  Daniel  Webster  in 
the  Senate  Chamber  at  Washington,  where,  in  the 
discussion   of   primary   principles,   his   speech   in 
answer  to  Gen.  Robert  Y.  Ilayne  of  South  Caro- 
lina effectually  established  the  unsettled  mind  of 
the  North  in  the  conviction  that   the  American 
Union  is  not  a  mere  confederation,  whose  authority 
any  State   can    nullify  or  suspend   at  will,  but  a 
living  nationality,  supreme  within  its  own  sphere, 
as  defined  by  the  Constitution.     That  one  speech 


158  LIFE  NOTES. 

was  the  effective  educator  of  the  younger  genera- 
tion that  bore  the  brunt  of  the  war  for  the  Union, 
whose  issue,  in  1865,  ended  that,  controversy. 
Several  paragraphs  of  that  speech  won  immediate 
acceptance  throughout  the  schools  and  colleges  of 
the  land,  in  the  way  of  class  declamation ;  the 
educated  youth  of  the  country  "  got  it  by  heart ;  " 
and  thus  the  debate  became  a  turning-point  of 
American  history. 

Moreover,  associated  with  this  same  period  is 
the  uprising  of  William  Lloyd  Garrison  as  a 
maker  of  history,  an  adjuster  of  the  political  and 
social  forces,  whose  way  had  been  prepared  by  the 
great  work  of  Webster  in  clarifying  the  American 
idea  of  nationality,  thus  creating  a  firm  public  sen- 
timent appreciative  of  the  emancipator's  appeals. 

In  awakening  memories  of  this  period,  we  can- 
not mention  the  name  of  Mr.  Garrison  without 
recalling  in  thought  that  of  Wendell  Phillips, 
whether  we  utter  it  or  not.  His  graduation  at 
Cambridge  occurred  the  year  after  that  of  Mr. 
Sumner ;  and,  in  1837,  his  speech  in  denunciation 
of  the  murder  of  Lovejoy  won  him  recognition 
as  the  "Prince  of  Orators,"  the  "golden-mouthed" 
coadjutor  of  Mr.  Garrison,  sustaining  to  him  a 
relation  as  vital  as  that  of  Melanchthon  to  Luther  ; 
supplying  to  "  the  Cause "  the  Demosthenic 
energy  that  had  been  lacking.     He  came  forth  in 


THE    TRANSITION  PERIOD.  1 59 

the  fulness  of  his  power,  and,  retainmg  it  for 
ahiiost  half  a  centuiy,  stood  forth  distinguished 
among  laymen,  —  the  non-official  or  non-profes- 
sional,—  recognized  by  Harvard  as  a  chosen  ex- 
ponent of  the  live  scholarship  of  New  England, 
able  to  voice,  or  even  criticiHe^  that  culture  and 
spirit  of  the  age  that  Harvard  now  represents. 

Within  the  scope  of  the  same  period  is  our  first 
recognition  of  Charles  Sumner  as  a  young  lawyer, 
a  zealous  scholar,  an  effective  writer,  "a  man  of 
ideas."  He  was  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1830,  —  a 
few  months  before  the  commencement  of  my  first 
pastorate  in  Boston,  —  pursued  a  course  of  studies 
at  the  Law  School,  and  in  1834  entered  into  part- 
nership with  Mr.  George  S.  Hillard,  the  firm 
occupying  two  adjoining  offices  in  Court  Street 
(near  Washington),  well  remembered  throughout 
the  twenty  years  following  as  Mr.  Sumner's  busi- 
ness centre,  until  that  distinction  was  transferred 
to  his  home  in  the  national  capital. 

In  both  places,  throughout  his  professional  and 
political  career,  I  was  in  the  way  of  seeing  Mr. 
Sumner  occasionally,  and  at  times  not  unfre- 
quently.  But  Mr.  Hillard,  of  whom  it  might  be 
exceptionally  said  that  his  society  was  as  attrac- 
tive as  his  books,  I  was  wont  to  meet  only  in 
Boston.  Having  been  present  at  his  graduation 
in  Cambridge,  I  chanced  once  to  repeat  to  him, 


l60  LIFE  NOTES. 

years  afterward,  some  sentences  from  liis  oration, 
to  wliich  quotation  he  responded  laughingly,  in 
the  mood  of  humorous  self-criticism.  In  compar- 
ing the  two  partners,  though  so  congenial,  the 
points  of  agreement  and  contrast  were  clearly 
marked.  In  incidental  talks,  great  underlying 
principles  would,  of  course,  come  into  discussion, 
and  then  Mr.  Hillard's  conservative  tendencies 
would  find  winning  expression ;  while,  even  at 
that  early  period,  when  Mr.  Sumner  was  so  enthu- 
siastically occupied  with  the  literature  of  law,  his 
strong  ethical  convictions,  overruling  deep  sym- 
pathies, determined  a  different  trend,  and  would 
assert  themselves  in  sentiment  and  tone  decidedly 
anticipatory  of  those  uttered  afterward  in  the 
elaborated  sentences  heard  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Tre- 
mont  Temple,  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  or  read 
in  the  complete  edition  of  his  printed  works. 
This  fact  suggested  a  diary  note  on  a  certain  day, 
quoting  a  saying  of  Coleridge,  "Every  principle 
is  the  germ  of  a  prophecy : "  thence  came  the 
recorded  prediction  that  the  young  ''  Radical's " 
identification  of  himself,  in  thought,  with  the  cause 
of  man,  as  man,  ever  one  with  the  cause  of  the 
Supreme  Right,  made  sure  a  place  of  leadership 
at  the  front  of  tlie  nation's  advancing  march ; 
while  the  "  Conservative "  would  be  relatively 
drifting  into  the  dim  distance  of  a  receding  past. 


THE    TRANSITION  PERIOD.  l6l 


CHAELES     SUMXER's     AIDS     TO     SELF-EDUCATION. 

A  trend  and  mood  of  mind  like  what  we  have 
seen  disclosed,  the  cherished  conception  of  an  aim 
so  broad  and  high,  would  naturally  lead  Charles 
Sumner  to  regard  a  personal  observation  of  the 
leading  minds  of  the  time,  at  home  and  abroad, 
as  an  essential  element  of  preparation  for  his  life- 
course  :  hence  his  absence  of  nearly  seven  weeks 
on  a  visit  to  Washington  in  1834,  while  yet  a 
reader  in  Mr.  Rand's  law-office ;  and  then,  near 
the  beginning  of  1838,  his  absence  in  Europe  of  a 
little  more  than  two  years  and  a  quarter,  until 
May,  1840,  despite  the  objections  of  many  friends 
as  to  the  effect  of  such  an  absence  upon  his  pro- 
fessional interest.  That  absence  occurred  during 
my  three  years'  ministry  in  Providence,  including 
a  journey  to  the  old  East,  Greece,  Turkey,  and 
the  Danube  ;  and  on  my  return  to  Boston,  in  1840, 
as  pastor  of  the  Federal-street  Baptist  Church,  I 
was  glad  to  greet  him  ''home  again."  Thencefor- 
ward my  interest  in  his  fortunes  became  more 
intense,  assured  of  his  having  a  great  mission  to 
fulfil.  In  this  connection  I  recall  many  of  those 
incidental  hints  and  references  whereby  one  might 
trace  the  working  of  a  certain  formative  and  im- 
pelling power  in  the  degree  of  influence  exerted 
upon  his  thinkmg  and  style  of  action  by  three 


1 62  LIFE  NOTES. 

men ;    namely,  Judge  Stoiy,  Dr.    Channing,  and 
ex-President  John  Qiiincy  Adams. 

Of  this  renowned  trio,  the  first  was  not  only  an 
accepted  legal  ''  authority  "  in  America,  but  also 
in  England,  and  the  world  over  among  the  jurists 
of  English-speaking  peoples.  Fortunately  for 
liis  students,  his  conversational  power  was  inex- 
haustible, unmatched  in  attractive  ease,  grace,  and 
aptness.  In  Charles  Sumner,  as  student  or  com- 
panion, the  great  jurist  found  a  scholar  of  ample 
capacity,  sympathetically  receptive,  quick  to  as- 
similate all  elements  of  knowledge,  and  quick  to 
unify  them  into  subserviency  to  his  own  ends.  In 
this  relation  both  were  fortunate ;  certainly  it 
seems  so  at  this  moment,  recalling,  as  I  do,  a 
single  evening  in  Providence,  where,  while  offici- 
ating as  Chaplain  of  the  United  States  Court,  I 
was  invited  by  Judge  Pitman  to  meet  his  family 
at  tea,  with  his  guest,  Mr.  Justice  Story.  For 
more  than  four  successive  hours,  there  was  a  spon- 
taneous flow  of  apt  and  welcomed  talk,  uninter- 
rupted except  by  the  inquiries  or  suggestions  put, 
thus  inducing  tlie  course  of  thought  in  this  or 
that  direction  over  a  wide  area  of  observation. 
The  memory  of  other  times,  but  of  that  evening 
especially,  reveals  the  formative  power  put  forth 
by  one  mind  in  the  education  for  his  sphere  of  ser- 
vice of  the  youthful  scholar,  who  was,  virtually, 


THE    TRAiYSlTTON  PERIOD.  1 63 

head  of  the  Law  School  when  the  professors  were 
called  away  to  the  national  capital.  He,  as  lec- 
turer, editor  of  "  The  American  Jurist,"  and  law 
reports,  had  won  his  high  trust  by  hard  work. 

Then,  in  unison  with  this  personal  influence 
was  that  of  Dr.  Channing,  Avho  sustained  an  ex- 
ceptionally intimate  relation,  intellectually,  to  the 
whole  student-class  of  young  Bostonians,  whether 
within  or  without  the  lines  of  theological  kinsliip. 
As  an  exponent  of  moral  ideas  in  their  direct  appli- 
cation to  life  generally,  civil  or  social,  he  held  this 
pre-eminence.  No  clergyman  of  Old  Boston  ever 
attained  so  wide  a  sway  over  the  sympathies  and 
sentiments  of  leading  minds  by  means  of  the  pen 
and  the  press.  His  reviews  at  times  were  espe- 
cially effective.  When  ^lilton's  prose  works  were 
unearthed  and  edited,  and  Scott's  Life  of  Napoleon 
published,  not  far  apart,  there  was,  comparativel3% 
almost  as  much  of  a  rush  to  get  a  copy  of  Chan- 
ning's  "  Milton,"  or  Channing's  "  Napoleon,"  as 
there  had  formerly  been  in  Old  New  York  to  see 
the  first  issue  of  a  new  work  from  the  pen  of  Irving 
or  Cooper.  Near  the  source  of  this  influence  was 
Charles  Sumner,  in  his  youth ;  inhaling  it  as  vital 
air,  and  feeling  its  power  in  his  veins  and  heart- 
beat. 

Later,  and  last  of  the  trio,  looms  up  in  this  per- 
sonal relation  ex-President  John  Quincy  Adams, 


164  LIFE   NOTES. 

"  the  old  man  eloquent,"  who,  retaining  to  the  end 
of  life  his  place  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
at  Washington,  when  at  home  in  Boston  or  Quincy 
kept  the  whole  circle  of  his  friends  quite  alive  to 
all  that  was  politically  significant  in  the  doings  of 
the  day  and  the  hour.  To  him  Mr.  Sumner  sus- 
tained a  relation  of  intimate  and  admiring  friend- 
ship, inducing  a  habit  of  free  intercommunication: 
and  so,  as  occasions  came,  we  were  in  the  way  of 
noting,  now  and  then,  his  casual  references  to  a 
recent  expression  of  "  the  President,"  or  the  talk 
of  a  ''last  evening's  hiterview,"  citing  some  apt 
saying ;  often,  indeed,  prophetic  of  the  worst  that 
came  of  bloody  war  into  the  nation's  experience. 
On  account  of  his  dramatic  position  in  Congres- 
sional conflicts,  especially  in  the  sectional  fight 
over  the  right  of  petition,  Mr.  Adams  represented 
the  heroic  element  of  statesmanship,  realizing  for 
a  time  the  highest  popular  ideal. 

To  these  three  men  we  are  indebted,  in  a  great 
degree,  for  the  contribution  of  Charles  Sumner's 
career  to  our  national  history ;  and,  with  emphasis 
may  we  add,  for  that  matured  character,  invested 
with  a  moral  majesty  that  forbade  even  the  ap- 
proach of  any  human  being  with  the  offer  of  a 
bribe,  or  the  proposal  of  any  thing  dishonorable. 
Thus  at  last,  the  young  Senator  of  Massachusetts 
in    the   national  capital,  the  successor  of  Daniel 


THE    TRAXSITION  PERIOD.  1 65 

Webster,  lie  stood  forth  before  all  in  the  dignity 
of  true  manhood  ;  just  to  all,  asking  favors  of 
none,  face  to  face  with  the  most  chivalrous  of  his 
foes  in  the  highest  stj^le  of  the  perfect  gentleman, 
commanding  tributes  of  respect  as  their  feer  uni- 
versally acknowledged  at  home  and  abroad,  with- 
out fear  and  without  reproach. 

NOTEY/ORTHY   MOODS   OF   jSHND. 

The  happiest,  the  most  exultant  mood  of  mind 
that  I  can  recall  as  a  part  of  Mr.  Sumner's  experi- 
ence, was  occasioned,  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
by  congratulations  on  his  success  in  gaining  the 
United  States'  recognition  of  the  independence  of 
Liberia.  More  than  one  old-time  Southern  Sena- 
tor had  jeered  at  the  proposal,  saying,  '^  Not  while 
I  live  I "  But  they  did  live  to  see  it  an  accom- 
plished fact,  the  dawn  of  a  new  day  for  Africa. 

This  statement  recalls,  moreover,  the  pleasant 
remembrance  of  congratulations  that  turn  the 
thoughts  in  another  direction  (suggestive  of  "  the 
theology  of  feeling,"  as  Professor  Park  would 
express  it),  called  forth  by  Mr.  Sumner's  impas- 
sioned eloquence  at  Worcester,  deprecating  all 
compromises  with  the  armed  Confederate  leaders, 
particularly  Jefferson  Davis,  and  indicating  a  fresh 
appreciation  of  those  imprecatory  and  deprecatory 
Psalms  of  David  relating  to  the  foes  of  Israel,  that 


1 66  LIFE  NOTES. 

he  had  learned  in  earlier  days  to  regard  as  utterly 
barbaric.  The  very  spirit  and  words  of  those 
Psalms  he  had  now  been  led  to  adopt  in  charac- 
terizing that  Confederate  leadership  as  a  deadly 
antagonism  to  the  dearest  hopes  of  humanity,  call- 
ing for  judicial  destruction  at  the  hand  of  God 
and  man  in  behalf  of  civilization,  and  the  bequest 
to  posterity  of  a  life  v\^orth  living.  ''  How  sub- 
limely, Mr.  Sumner,"  I  exclaimed,  ''you  caused 
the  stalwart  Samuel  to  loom  up  as  ovur  benefactor, 
keeping  his  own  nation  to  its  mission  by  his  sum- 
mary treatment  of  Agag !  "  Tliis  exclamation 
called  forth  the  sentiment,  "  Yes ;  to  judge  them 
aright,  we  must  put  ourselves  in  their  place :  in 
the  story  and  the  song  there  is  more  than  meets 
the  eye  of  a  boy  reader." 

A  NEW   ERA  OF   CHrwISTIAN   HOME-WORK. 

Nearly  contemporaneous  with  tlie  uprising  of 
public  sentiment  for  concerted  action  in  the  cause 
of  the  poor  and  enslaved  at  a  distance,  was  the 
rise  of  new  organisms  for  home-work  in  behalf  of 
the  poor  and  neglected  classes  of  Boston  and  its 
vicinity.  Care  for  the  poor  took  on  a  new  aspect, 
that,  in  a  degree,  distinguished  the  period ;  even 
as  Jesus  signalized  his  own  time  when  he  said, 
"  Unto  the  poor  the  gospel  is  preached."  He 
preached  to  the  rich  and  the  poor  alike,  and  com- 


THE    TRANSITION  PERIOD.  1 6/ 

missioned  his  disciples  to  do  the  same.  Although 
the  gospel  had  been  preached  to  the  poor  in 
Boston  long  before,  by  means  of  missions  and 
missionaries,  it  had  not  usually  been  preached  to 
the  rich  and  the  poor  by  the  %ame  persons  or  class 
of  persons.  Rather,  there  was  a  disposition  on  the 
part  of  family  churches  or  pew-renting  congrega- 
tions to  provide  ministries  for  the  poor  outsiders, 
as  such,  and  to  send  to  them  men  "good  enough," 
though  they  would  not  be  acceptable  in  their  own 
pulpits,  or  qualified  to  take  rank  with  their  pas- 
tors. This,  however,  w^s  not  the  realization  of 
Christ's  idea  of  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  poor. 
At  this  time  there  came  a  change  of  view,  a  general 
advance  of  thought,  and  a  special  quickenuig  of 
interest,  within  the  range  of  our  denominational 
home-work.  To  this  line  of  service  Rev.  William 
Howe  had  devoted  himself  while  yet  a  student  at 
Newton,  and  was  then  recognized  as  the  assistant 
of  the  four  city  pastors  in  their  own  pulpits,  when 
the  Sunday  evening  united  lecture  as  a  tliird  ser- 
vice, recurring  to  each  in  turn,  required  a  supply 
for  the  first  or  second  service  of  the  same  sabbath. 
Thus,  having  been  associated  with  the  pastors,  his 
mission-work  became,  at  the  set  time,  a  pastorship ; 
and  workers  of  kindred  spirit  gathering  around 
him,  a  ''  Union  Baptist  Church  "  was  constituted, 
to  become,  as  it  did  at  once,  a  growing  power  in 


1 68  LIFE   AZOTES. 

its  own  neighborhood.  A  "mission  for  the  poor" 
was  no  longer  talked  of,  and  a  real  people's  church 
loomed  up  in  its  place. 

The  change  was  vital ;  and  the  culmination  of 
the  better  method  of  realizing  the  ideal  of  the 
New  Testament  as  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel 
may  be  seen  in  the  history  of  the  Ruggles-street 
Church  during  the  ministrj^  of  Rev.  Dr.  Seymour. 

For  effective  stimulation  to  thouglit  in  this  direc- 
ticn,  the  whole  company  of  w^orkers  felt  themselves 
personally  indebted  to  the  movement  of  the  Uni- 
tarians in  the  constitution  of  their  "  ministry  at 
large,"  emphasizing  this  principle  by  their  illus- 
trative example.  They  called  to  their  leadership 
Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  Tuckerman,  an  honored  pastor 
of  Chelsea;  and  he  began  his  work  in  the  pulpit  of 
Dr.  Channing,  practically  Avinning,  by  apt  state- 
ments of  ideas  and  methods,  the  co-operation  of 
that  whole  people,  and  thence  calling  forth  into  a 
compact  organism  for  home-work  their  whole  de- 
nominational array  in  Boston.  Their  financial 
power  was  concentrated,  comparatively,  upon  the 
home-field  around  them.  Their  working  ministry 
was  composed  of  men  who,  like  Rev.  Dr.  Water- 
ston  and  Rev.  JNlr.  Gray,  and  others,  took  rank 
with  the  highest  and  best,  intellectually  and 
socially.  The  day  is  well  remembered  when  Mr. 
Simon  G.  Shipley,  one  of  the  younger  members  of 


THE    TRAiXSITION  PERIOD,  1 69 

our  First  Church  (afterwards  elected  deacou), 
hailed  me  in  the  street  to  call  attention  to  tliis 
movement  of  the  Unitarians,  saying,  "  See  what 
profound  wisdom  and  common-sense  they  show  in 
their  plans.  They  know  that  the  social  wheel  is 
constantly  revolving,  and  that  the  families  who 
are  now  '  the  poor '  will  be  '  the  rich '  erelong, 
with  the  shaping  of  the  future  in  their  hands.  If 
we  lag  behind,  we  shall  soon  drift  out  of  sight." 
In  these  words  he  voiced  a  rising  sentiment,  that 
''  work  is  worship ; "  and  that  sentiment^  acting 
through  new  organisms  of  the  old  and  young,  pre- 
pared the  way  for  Phineas  Stowe,  whose  Bethel 
work  became  of  itself  a  real  "  ministry  at  large," 
in  an  important  sense  supplementing  that  of 
Father  Taylor,  who  learned  to  esteem  as  a  true 
co-worker  the  young  man  whom  he  was  so  shy  of 
while  3'et  a  stranger,  before  his  character  had 
passed  the  ordeals  that  tested  its  quality,  and 
had  won  the  love  that  discerns  the  solid  grounds 
of  trust.  His  work  still  lives,  is  still  progressive  ; 
having  its  own  fresh  story  to  tell  to  appreciative 
listeners  year  by  year. 


I/O  LIFE   NOTES. 


XITI. 

THE  ERA  OF  MYSTICISM. 
RALPH   WALDO    EMERSON. 

In  one  of  the  notes  recalling  several  names  as- 
sociated with  the  years  of  a  semi-decade  distin- 
guished as  a  transition  period  (1830-35),  mention 
was  made,  incidentally,  of  an  introduction,  occur- 
ring soon  after  my  settlement  in  Boston  as  minis- 
ter of  the  First  Baptist  Church  (then  approaching 
the  one  hundred  and  sixty-sixtli  anniversary  of  its 
birth-year),  to  Rev.  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  my 
nearest  clerical  neighbor,  colleague  of  Rev.  Henry 
Ware,  jun.,  in  the  ministry  of  the  Second  Unita- 
rian Church.  That  introduction,  having  taken 
place  at  the  home  of  mutual  friends,  where  Mr. 
Emerson's  participation  in  a  funeral  service  indi- 
cated his  parochial  relation  to  a  part  of  the 
bereaved  family  circle,  rendered  the  occasion 
memorable  as  the  starting-point  of  a  welcomed 
acquaintanceship. 

His  manner  was  genially  responsive,  while  his 
countenance,  tone,  and  bearing  Avere  suggestive, 


THE   ERA    OF  MYSTICISM.  I/I 

apart  from  all  culture,  of  a  rarely  gifted  nature. 
Though  only  five  3'ears  older  than  myself,  his 
position  as  the  colleague  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Ware, 
jun.,  invested  liim  with  a  certain  prestige  of 
dignity  equivalent  to  an  additional  decade  of 
years,  and  made  the  likelihood  of  meeting  him 
often,  prospectively  interesting.  Our  wide  paro- 
chial surroundings,  of  more  than  a  century's 
growth  in  a  homogeneous  community,  would 
constantly  furnish  apt  occasions  for  friendly  in- 
tercourse on  matters  of  common  concern,  muni- 
cipal or  educational.  It  seemed,  just  then,  that 
any  observing  stranger,  even  at  a  first  meeting, 
would  be  quick  to  recognize  the  presence  of  a 
unique,  transparent  personality ;  a  free,  self- 
reliant  mind,  uttering  itself  without  restraint  and 
without  guile  ;  not  fluent,  as  that  of  a  trained 
talker  watching  the  impressions  he  is  making,  but 
with  speech  aptly  winning,  spontaneous  as  that  of 
a  little  child  impelled  to  find  expressiou  for  the 
thought  or  feeling  of  the  moment. 

MENTAL  UNREST  AS  TO  CHURCH  ORGANISM. 

Even  at  that  early  period,  it  was  often,  from  my 
point  of  view,  a  matter  of  w^onder  that  a  man  so 
highly  gifted,  distinguished  by  degrees  of  insight 
and  of  farsight  so  exceptional,  with  a  positive 
Christian  faith  so  inconsiderable,  could  be  content 


172  LIFE   NOTES. 

or  at  all  able  to  bear  the  routine  of  a  pastorate 
requiring  weekly  pulpit  services  necessarily  char- 
acterized by  statements  or  by  implications  of  rela- 
tive non-belief  rather  than  any  order  of  truths 
supernaturally  and  divinely  revealed.  My  per- 
sonal conviction  was,  that,  Avith  simply  natural 
ethics  to  inculcate,  I  could  have  no  heart  to  meet 
the  regular  calls  of  a  ministry  that  arose  in  the 
first  century  as  the  exponent  of  a  gospel  super- 
naturally attested,  implying  thus  a  lively  faith  in 
certain  historical  facts,  all  vocal  with  teachings 
that  enkindled  the  highest  style  of  enthusiasm,  a 
new  uplifting  power  to  every  recipient.  Surely, 
I  said,  —  now  and  then  soliloquizing,  —  surely  I 
would  be  obliged  to  abandon  the  pulpit,  and  take 
to  literature,  or  drift  into  Communism,  or  seek  the 
platform  as  a  lecturer  on  philosophy  or  history,  or 
perhaps  political  economy  embracing  the  relations 
of  labor  and  capital,  or  on  some  mastered  specialty 
of  thought  or  enterprise  that  could  "  possess  my 
soul "  as  the  one  work  given  me  to  do.  A  pro- 
fessional relation  that  woidd  require  me  to  use 
the  traditional  terms  and  phraseologies  of  the 
Christian  ministry  for  secular  ends,  emphasizuig 
my  non-beliefs,  would  be  to  me  tedious,  incongru- 
ous, distasteful,  and  intolerable. 

These  soliloquies  turned  out  to  be  instinctively 
prophetic,  verified  by  experiences  of  historic  inter- 


THE  ERA    OF  MYSTICISM.  1 73 

est.  To  that  issue  Mr.  Emerson  came,  erelong, 
with  the  most  cahn  and  settled  determination. 
The  statement  of  reasons  for  this  ''new  depart- 
ure "  was  made  to  me  by  Mr.  Emerson  himself, 
about  the  time  of  its  occurrence,  in  a  casual  con- 
versation, as  here  recorded,  with  the  occasion  that 
called  it  forth. 

It  chanced  that  on  a  Monday  morning,  in  1832, 
we  met  in  the  street,  each  carrying  a  little  hand- 
satchel.  Approaching,  we  exchanged  salutations, 
and  then  followed  this  brief  talk :  — 

"  Mr.  Emerson,  it  seems  that  we  are  travellers 
to-day,  going  in  opposite  directions,  and  our  time, 
therefore,  is  limited ;  but,  if  you  have  a  minute's 
margin,  I  should  like,  for  information,  to  put  a 
question  which  no  one  except  yourself  can  fitly 
answer." 

"Do  so  freely,"  he  replied.  "I  am  not  in  a 
hurry :  I  have  margin  enough  of  time." 

"  Well,  I  will  tell  you,  then,  that  I  am  boarding 
with  my  little  family  at  Mrs.  Wilson's  on  Green 
Street,  where  I  enjoy  the  society  of  several  of 
your  parishioners  and  friends  as  companions  in 
table-talk,  and  find  that  your  people  are  greatly 
agitated  by  the  report  that  you  have  renounced 
the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  refuse 
all  participation  in  it  as  a  religious  rite.  Loath 
as  I  am  to  say  a  word  unadvisedly  touching  a 


174  LIFE   NOTES. 

matter  of  such  personal  interest,  I  should  like  to  be 
informed  in  regard  to  two  points :  Is  the  alleged 
renunciation  a  fact?     If  so,  the  ground  of  it? " 

"Yes,"  he  answered,  ''it  is  a  fact;  and  the 
ground  of  it  is  my  conviction,  that,  in  the  devel- 
opment of  religions,  we  have  outgrown  all  need 
of  this  externalism,  or  the  like  of  it  in  any  way 
whatsoever.  This  conviction  has  been  intensified 
by  fresh  readings  of  the  leading  Quaker  writers, 
with  whom  I  find  myself  in  sympathy." 

To  this  I  replied,  "  Thanks.  Your  statement  of 
reasons  is  satisfactory  as  explanation;  normally 
developed,  I  should  say,  from  your  point  of  view. 
Nevertheless,  I  presume  your  sympathies  have 
gone  beyond  the  bounds  of  Quakerdom,  even  over 
into  Asia,  attracted  by  affinities  w^ith  some  ideas 
of  older  origin." 

This  allusion  to  a  pantheistic  trend  provoked 
a  smile  that  seemed  to  say,  "  Your  guess  is  sug- 
gestive, but  we  must  go."  And  so  we  parted 
quickly,  to  make  sure  of  redeeming  the  time  that 
this  short  episodal  talk  had  cost  us. 

HIS   POSITION  EXCEPTIONALLY  ATTRACTIVE. 

The  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Emerson  from  all 
churchly  organism  was  gently  but  decisively  ac- 
complished. He  used  to  say,  ''  Let  every  man  be 
his  own   Church."     That   rather   queer   phrasing 


THE   ERA    OE  MYSTICISM.  1 75 

anticipated  whole  pages  of  his  essay-writing.  It 
made  the  ultimate  issue  quite  plain  to  the  com- 
mon mind.  As  soon  as  this  step  of  his  early 
career  had  been  taken,  my  personal  interest  in  his 
course  and  style  of  action  as  an  independent  man, 
an  original  personality,  was  greatly  quickened ; 
my  communication  with  him  became  more  free, 
unembarrassed  by  any  degree  of  sensitiveness  as 
to  the  proprieties  pertaining  to  official  or  clerical 
relations.  Seeing  that  he  had  broken  away  from 
ecclesiasticism  entirely,  ignoring  at  once  all  ex- 
ternal or  supernatural  revelation,  still  asserting 
himself  as  a  philosophical  and  religious  teacher, 
"hilling  back  on  Nature,"  the  recipient  of  fresh 
truths,  as  a  familiar  correspondent  in  direct  com- 
munication with  Nature,  I  became  more  and  more 
curious  to  learn  how  a  mind  thus  strongly  trend- 
ing would  see  and  report  to  us  the  past,  present, 
and  future  of  this  mysterious  universe  wherein 
we  live.  Appreciating,  as  I  did  sympathetically, 
his  dissatisfaction  with  his  inherited  church  posi- 
tion, I  desired  to  trace  the  lone  way  of  his  "  new 
departure."  This  feeling  was  strengthened  by  the 
free  scope  accorded  to  it ;  for  he  always  talked  as 
one  quite  sure  that  the  plainest  speech,  the  most 
direct  way  of  ''putting  things,"  was  best  liked  ; 
and  he  thus  constantly  awakened  in  one  the 
feeling    that    he    never    could    be    offended    by 


176  LIFE  NOTES. 

the  sharpest  antagonism  of  a  sincere  man.  This 
childlike  simplicity,  this  "  believing,  and  tlierefore 
speaking,"  was  of  itself  a  lifelong  power,  charac- 
terizing not  only  the  casual  or  private  talk,  but 
also  the  set  public  address.  In  this  connection  I 
may  say,  incidentally,  that  its  free  expression  was 
once  somewhat  startling  to  me,  and  to  many 
quite  amusing,  on  a  certain  occasion,  —  the  meet- 
ing of  the  American  Institute,  composed  maiidy 
of  teachers,  at  the  State  Capitol,  —  where  he  de- 
livered the  opening  discourse.  Having  finished 
my  appointed  service  as  chaplain,  and  offered  the 
introductory  prayer,  he  at  once,  stepping  into 
the  place  I  had  occupied,  commenced  his  address 
with  a  brilliant  paragraph  containing  a  parenthetic 
affirmation  of  the  uselessness  of  prayer  ! 

TENTATIVE  STEPS  TO  THE  NEW  CAREER. 

During  several  years  following  the  period  here 
noted,  the  opportunities  for  occasionally  meeting 
Mr.  Emerson  were  not  quite  so  continuous  as 
might  have  been  reasonably  hoped  for.  Early  in 
the  year  1832  he  had  been  bereaved  of  the  wife 
of  his  youth;  and  then  erelong  the  state  of  his 
health  suggested  his  visit  to  Europe  in  1833,  —  a 
year  well  remembered  by  Thomas  Carlyle  as  an 
era  of  his  home  history  signalized  by  the  acquisi- 
tion of  Mr.  Emerson's   acquaintance.     After  his 


THE  ERA    OF  MYSTICISM.  I// 

return  to  America  he  was  not  so  mncli  in  our 
neighborhood  as  had  been  his  wont.  In  1834 
Concord  became  his  abiding  home-centre,  where 
he  devoted  himself  to  reading,  study,  and  literary 
work,  keeping  himself  in  communication  with 
Boston  and  the  world  at  large  mainly  by  means 
of  lectures,  single  or  in  series ;  availing  himself  of 
the  Lyceum  platform,  which  at  the  time  seemed 
to  him  a  rising  poAver,  destined  to  supersede  the 
pulpit.  At  this  period  particularly  he  embraced 
within  his  range  of  study  the  old  Neo-Platonic 
mj^sticism,  as  taught  by  Plotinus  (third  century), 
by  Porphirius  (third  and  fourth),  and  by  Proclus 
(fifth  centur}^) ;  tracing,  too,  its  modern  develop- 
ments, especially  in  Germany.  In  1835  he  estab- 
lished his  household  by  a  second  marriage :  and 
in  1836  he  j)^^t  forth  his  first  volume  anony- 
mously (calling  it  "  an  entering  wedge  "),  ninety- 
three  pages,  entitled  "Nature;"  the  first  sentence 
whereof,  in  the  spirit  of  the  authors  above  named, 
affirmed  the  invalidity  of  all  external  or  super- 
natural revelations,  and  the  all-sufficiency  of  every 
souFs  own  intercommunication  witli  Nature  for 
realizing  the  highest  possibilities  of  humanity. 
The  motto  upon  the  titlepage  was  a  quotation 
from  Plotinus:  "Nature  is  but  an  image  or  imita- 
tion of  Wisdom,  the  last  thing  of  the  soul ;  Na- 
ture being  a  thing  which  doth  oidy  do,  but  not 


178  LIFE   XOTES. 

know."  In  the  first  words  of  this  new  book  the 
writer  appealed  to  the  century  against  the  primary 
claim  of  Christianity,  exclaiming,  "  The  foregoing 
generations  beheld  God  and  Nature  face  to  face ; 
we,  through  their  eyes.  Why  should  not  we  enjoy 
also  an  orighial  relation  to  the  universe?  Why 
should  not  we  have  a  poetry  and  philosophy  of 
insight,  and  not  of  tradition,  and  a  religion  by  reve- 
lation to  U8^  and  not  the  history  of  theirs  ?  " 

GENERAL  EE-UXION   IN   PROVIDENCE,    R.I. 

During  the  following  year  (1837),  soon  after 
my  removal  from  Boston  to  Providence,  "the 
new  views "  were  made  more  familiar  than  ever 
to  the  thought  and  talk  of  an  extending  circle  of 
readers  and  students,  whose  interest  was  quickened 
by  the  enlivening  presence  of  Margaret  Fuller,  "  a 
born  teacher,"  and  also  the  centre  of  a  sociality 
whose  bond  of  union  was  intellectual  culture.  As 
one  of  a  special  evening  class  readily  gathering 
around  her  for  the  study  of  the  German  language 
and  literature,  I  was  naturally  led,  by  the  inci- 
dental topics  of  conversation,  to  a  more  continuous 
turning:  of  tlion^ht  in  this  new  line  of  advance- 
ment.  At  this  time  her  helpful  friend,  Mr.  Emer- 
son, shared  her  companionship  and  the  social  life 
of  Providence  for  several  weeks,  having  accepted 
an  invitation  to  deliver  a  course  of  lectures. 


THE  ERA    OE  MYSTICISM.  1 79 

At  the  close  of  that  series  he  announced,  as 
supplementary,  "A  Lecture  on  Religion,"  to  be 
delivered  at  another  hall  "  across  the  bridge."  A 
large  audience  answered  the  call.  Among  the 
listeners  I  occupied  a  seat  near  the  speaker ;  and 
as  soon  as  the  lecture  was  ended,  he  addressed  to 
me  a  remark  that  led  to  the  following  conversa- 
tion :  — 

"I  think,  Mr.  Emerson,  this  whole  audience 
would  agree  in  saying  that  your  tracing  of  the 
character  of  Jesus,  his  spirit  and  style  of  action 
as  a  man  and  a  teacher,  was  marvellously  apt, 
just,  and  beautiful,  giving  to  us  fresh  impressions 
of  his  moral  greatness  as  the  inaugurator  of  a  new 
era.  A  unique  paragraph  of  Rousseau  has  often 
been  quoted  as  eloquently  appreciative,  but  there 
seems  to  me  nothing  extant  in  literature  that  sur- 
passes the  characterization  you  have  presented 
here.  Yet,  in  regard  to  one  suggested  point,  I  am 
somewhat  puzzled ;  namely,  the  question :  What 
relation  does  the  testimony  of  the  miracles  of 
Jesus,  affirmed  by  himself  as  well  as  the  witnesses, 
sustain  to  your  line  of  historic  thought?  I  have 
imagined  that  it  may  be  to  yours,  relatively,  what 
the  story  told  at  the  opening  of  Plato's  life  has 
been  to  mine.  There  it  has  been  said,  you  know, 
that,  while  he  lay  in  his  cradle,  the  bees  came  and 
shed  honey  on  his  lips  ;  on  reading  which,  I  say 


l8o  LIFE  NOTES. 

to  myself,  '  That  is  a  very  pretty  story ;  but 
whether  it  be  true  or  not,  is  a  matter  of  no 
account.' " 

"  Yes,"  Mr.  Emerson  replied ;  "  you  have  an- 
swered your  own  question.  The  illustration  is 
good." 

''  If  so,"  I  rejoined,  "  I  am  now  the  more  per- 
plexed; for,  suppose  Plato  had  gone  forth  as  a 
teacher  throughout  Greece,  addressing  the  com- 
mon people  as  well  as  the  scholars,  and  claiming 
the  acceptance  of  his  teachings  not  only  as  self- 
witnessing,  but  as  divine  communications,  verified 
at  will  by  superhuman  works  recognized  as  re- 
sponses to  the  teacher's  words  from  the  one 
Author  of  the  surrounding  sense-world  and  spirit- 
world  alike,  thus  attesting  an  exceptional  unity 
and  a  supreme  authority,  what  would  you  have 
said  of  Plato  ?  " 

"  Why,  certainly,"  the  reply  was,  "  I  should 
have  said  that  Plato  was  a  great  charlatan." 

''Well,  then,"  I  asked,  "why  not  say  outright 
the  very  same  of  Jesus,  —  that  lie  was  a  great 
charlatan,  —  seeing  that  this  was  exactly  what  he 
did  throughout  the  land  of  Palestine  ?  " 

With  a  quietly  musing,  meditative  air,  Mr. 
Emerson  seemed  for  a  moment  to  be  extemporiz- 
ing an  answer,  when  a  group  of  friends,  students, 
and  others  came  pressing  forward  with  their  per- 


THE   ERA    OF  MYSTICISM.  l8l 

sonal  greetings,  so  that  the  opportunity  for  further 
talk  in  this  direction  was  suddenly  ended.  We 
regretted  the  interruption. 

ERA    OF    "THE   NEW   PULPIT." 

At  the  time  here  noted,  Mr.  Emerson's  forecast- 
ings  and  his  tentative  efforts  upon  platforms  had 
interpreted  themselves  as  the  initiation  of  a  new 
career.  It  was  not  far  from  the  period  of  his 
visits  to  Providence  as  a  lecturer,  that  he  came, 
after  many  questionings,  to  the  full  recognition  of 
his  own  Ufe-calling,  as  one  impelled  by  his  genius, 
and  ''ordained  by  nature,"  to  the  work  of  the 
platform.  In  January,  1829,  he  had  been,  by  a 
regular  council,  ordained  to  the  work  of  the 
church-pulpit;  now  he  was  exulting  in  his  sense 
of  freedom  from  all  traditional  bonds,  and  in  his 
welcomes  to  the  "  new  pulpit,"  where,  as  he  said, 
"there  is  no  prescription."  Assured  of  fit  audi- 
ence, this  fresh  feeling  of  liberty  was  as  a  new 
start  in  life.  Already  he  had  characterized  the 
turn  of  the  time  by  referring  to  the  groups  gather- 
ing around  him  as  "  ladies  and  gentlemen  without 
a  religion,  seeking  a  new  one  ;"  and  some  one  or 
more  of  these  had  characterized  him  as  "the 
Apostle  of  the  Eternal  Reason." 

This  style  of  expression  became  to  us  gradually 
familiar,  especially  after  my  return  to  Boston,  in 


1 82  LIFE  NOTES, 

1840,  as  minister  of  the  Federal-street  Baptist 
Church,  near  the  time  of  the  memorable  notice  of 
a  course  of  lectures  to  be  given  forth  from  the 
pulpit  of  Dr.  Channing,  in  Federal  Street,  by  his 
colleague.  Rev.  Dr.  Ezra  S.  Gannett,  who  prefaced 
that  announcement  by  stating  that  for  twenty 
years  the  Unitarian  pulpits,  having  been  mainly 
engaged  in  dealing  with  ethical  and  practical 
matters,  had  left  to  the  press  the  discussion  of 
central  doctrines,  so  that  a  generation  had  grown 
up  under  their  ministries  not  knowing  what  to 
believe.  To  aid  in  meeting  this  need,  he  advertised 
a  course  of  lectures  for  six  successive  Sunday 
evenings,  on  ''  Christ  and  Christianity."  That 
call  drew  croAvds  of  listeners.  This  connection  of 
things  indicated  not  only  a  certain  awakening  of 
thought  at  the  time,  but  the  new  field  of  work 
also  that  seemed,  from  Mr.  Emerson's  point  of 
view,  fast  widening  around  him,  flushed  with 
budding  promises.  His  way  had  been  more 
than  twenty  years  in  process  of  preparation. 
He  welcomed  his  opportunities.  He  "  discerned 
the  signs "  of  lii8  sky.  The  responsive  moods 
of  mind  wherein  the  more  youthful  audiences 
greeted  the  new  ideas  so  musically  voiced  from 
the  platform,  re-acted  upon  him,  as  helps  to 
larger  aims,  to  a  more  persistently  working  force 
exerted    through    class    gatherings,    anniversary 


THE  ERA    OF  MYSTICISM.  1 83 

orations,  issues  from  the  press  in  pamphlet- 
form,  book-form,  and  special  articles  of  magazine 
literature. 

THE    NEW   ENTHUSIASM   AND   ITS   EXPONENT. 

A    genuine    enthusiasm    was    thus    enkindled. 
Who  could  define  its  range  ?     Some  ardent  minds 
predicted    immediate    and    boundless    conquests, 
somewhat  like  the  friends  of   Charles  Fourier  in 
France,  who  exclaimed,  in  1839, ''If   Fourierism 
has  alread}'  won  twenty  thousand  adherents,  why 
may  it  not,  in  due  time,  gain  twenty  millions,  or 
thirty,  and  thus  reconstruct  tlie  nation  ?  "     As  a 
fit  exponent  of  this  rising  Western  transcendent- 
alism, a  new  magazine  was  projected ;  and,  after 
many  hesitations  as  to  the  most  worthy  name  for 
characterization,  it   was   made  ''presentable"  by 
Mr.  Emerson  as  well  as  by  Margaret  Fuller,  and 
named  "The  Dial."     The  Athenian  taste  of  the 
really  curious  or  inquiring  spirits  "  seeking  a  new 
relioion,"    was   met   by  stimulations   of    brilliant 
thought,    as   well    as   by   profound   psychological 
intuitions ;  yet  it  was  in  this  line  of  direction  that 
the    new    enthusiasm,    grappling    with    practical 
issues,  including  the  financial  problem,  discovered 
its  first  sign  of  limitation.     Despite  the  originality 
of    the   writing,    the    generosity   of  the   staff    of 
writers,  the  lack  of  golden  responses  proved  that 


1 84  r.lFE  NOTES. 

the  appreciative  or  sympathetic  minds  were  but  a 
small  fraction  of  the  reading  public.  The  day 
arrived  erelong  (1843)  when  the  sales  would  not 
l^ay  the  expenses,  and  the  ideal  "  Dial "  gracefully 
withdrew  itself  to  the  higher  shelves  of  the  home- 
study  or  the  shaded  archives  of  the  public  library. 
Thither  some  elite  scholar  of  each  successive  gen- 
eration will  find  his  way,  in  order  to  muse  over 
its  pages,  and  report  to  his  own  time  the  historic 
significance  of  the  ideal  school  that  it  represented. 

HALF   A   LIFETIME   "AT    HIS   BEST." 

Mr.  Emerson's  interest  in  "  The  Dial,"  however, 
was  sympathetic  rather  than  directl}^  personal. 
Its  departure  was,  no  doubt,  more  of  a  disappoint- 
ment to  Margaret  Fuller  than  to  him,  though,  for 
the  sake  of  his  "young  friends,"  he  desired  its 
success.  During  the  two  decades  that  preceded 
the  civil  war  (1841-61),  and  most  of  the  decade 
and  a  half  that  followed,  comprising  a  little  more 
than  a  third  of  a  century,  he  appeared  continually 
"  at  his  best,"  in  the  very  prime  of  his  power.  He 
greatly  enjoyed,  in  the  main,  his  professional  trips, 
far  and  near,  —  often  derived  exhilaration  from 
them ;  and  thus  we  have  known  him  appear  to 
advantage  as  a  conversationalist  amid  the  chance 
society  of  a  railway  excursion.  In  this  connection 
I  am  reminded  that  it  was  once  my  pleasure  to 


THE   ERA    OF  MYSTICISM.  1 85 

introduce  to  him  Rev.  Dr.  Caldwell,  late  president 
of  Vassar  College,  to  whose  companionship  Mr. 
Emerson  took  kindly,  witli  a  decided  zest,  fur  tlie 
day  or  two  following.  Arriving  at  Buffalo,  they 
staid  at  the  same  hotel ;  and  there  my  engage- 
ments took  me  away  from  them  in  another  direc- 
tion. In  the  evening  Mr.  Emerson  accepted  Dr. 
Caldwell's  mvitation  to  look  in  upon  the  meeting 
of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  where 
Rev.  Dr.  Parker  of  Cambridgeport  was  to  give 
an  account  of  his  visit  to  the  Baptist  churches  of 
France.  Dr.  Parker  was  graphically  interesting 
in  the  putting  of  his  facts,  so  that  there  w^as  no 
dull  listener  in  the  house.  Afterward,  meeting 
Dr.  Caldwell,  I  inquired,  ''Did  Mr.  Emerson  say 
any  thing  suggested  by  the  sayings  or  doings  of 
the  meeting  ?  *'  —  "  Oh,  yes  I  "  replied  the  Doctor, 
"  he  spoke  of  it  freely  ;  and  T  can  hardly  tell  you 
how  greatly  amused  he  seemed  to  be  with  the 
mere  idea  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Union  at- 
tempting in  earnest  the  conversion  of  France  I  " 

That  reply,  by  the  way,  has  of  late  often  re- 
curred to  my  thought  suggestively.  When  it  was 
uttered,  France  was  an  empire ;  and  at  that  time  I 
knew  of  some  who  were  hoping  and  praying  that 
they  might  live  to  see  France  a  republic,  and  all 
religion  free.  Erelong  the  empire  fell,  and  then 
"  The  Nation  "  of  New  York  well  said,  "After  the 


1 86  LIFE   NOTES. 

lapse  of  a  thousand  years,  France  must  now  begin 
again,  and  build  up  anew  from  the  very  founda- 
tions." Even  so.  Eight  years  ago  I  stood  in  the 
vestibule  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  at  Versailles, 
conversing  with  one  of  the  evangelical  leaders  of 
France,  Rev.  Dr.  Pressense,  in  preceding  years 
the  able  correspondent  of  "  The  Watchman  "  of 
Boston,  then  the  representative  in  the  national 
Legislature  of  the  Department  of  "the  Seine," 
exulting  as  never  before  in  the  freedom  of  the 
republic,  the  great  awakening  of  the  popular  mind, 
and  the  brightening  pros^^ects  of  primitive  Chris- 
tianity. 

Throughout  the  whole  period,  just  noted,  of 
Mr.  Emerson's  professional  life  as  lay  lecturer  and 
as  essayist,  his  mental  poise,  his  tone,  spirit,  and 
genial  manner,  seemed  ever  the  same.  Occasional 
meetings  and  greetings  are  now  vivid  memories; 
especially,  as  pertaining  to  his  later  years,  those 
which  occurred  while  I  was  associated  with  him 
in  the  library  committeeship  of  Harvard  Univer- 
sity. In  those  casual  or  incidental  talks  wherein 
there  is  no  premeditation,  and  thought  springs 
spontaneously,  "  free  and  easy,"  from  suggestions 
serious  or  trivial,  it  was  quite  noteworthy  how 
intimately  associated  with  all  kinds  of  topics  was 
some  word  or  action  of  his  sylvan  friend,  Henry 
Thoreau,  whom  Emerson  had  lovingly  introduced 


THE   ERA    OF  MYSTICISM.  187 

to  literature  by  means  of  "  The  Dial,"  tlie  first 
contribution  being  a  poem  published  in  the  first 
number. 

Thus  it  happened,  one  day,  that  Mr.  Emerson 
was  passing  the  house  of  Dr.  Robbins,  dentist,  just 
as  I  was  leaving  it ;  and,  while  on  the  top  of  the 
steps,  closing  the  door  behind  me,  he  hailed  me 
from  the  sidewalk  with  the  greeting,  "  Pray,  what 
have  3^ou  been  doing  there  ?  " 

''I  have  been  getting  a  mutilated  mouth  re- 
paired," was  my  reply. 

"Indeed;  have  you  come  to  that  already? 
When  Thoreau  reached  that  stage  of  experience, 
and  the  operation  had  been  ended,  he  exclaimed, 
'  What  a  pity  that  I  could  not  have  known  betimes 
how  much  Art  outdoes  Nature  in  this  kind  of 
outfit  for  life,  so  that  I  might  have  spoken  for 
such  a  set  to  start  with  I '  " 

In  the  conversation  that  followed,  Mr.  Emerson 
spoke  with  curious  interest  of  what  had  been 
lately  written  on  brain-power,  and  the  recent  com- 
mendations of  Scotch  oatmeal,  fish,  wild  birds, 
and  articles  of  diet  wherein  Nature,  by  providing 
stores  of  phosphatic  sustenance,  had  wrought  with 
such  motherly  care  for  the  health  of  our  brain- 
life. 


1 88  LIFE  NOTES. 

OF   CONFLICTING   JUDGINIENTS   IN   ENGLAND. 

In  his  persistent  and  effective  use  of  the  plat- 
form and  the  press  from  the  very  beginning  of  liis 
professional  career,  Mr.  Emerson  was  progressively 
gaining  audience  at  home  and  abroad ;  the  law  of 
'* elective  affinities"  having  asserted  itself  with 
special  vigor  in  England,  where  it  was  noticed 
as  early  as  1842  that  the  "Radicals"  were  cir- 
culating liis  lecture,  "Man,  the  Reformer,"  read 
Jan.  25,  1841,  before  the  Mechanics'  and  Ap- 
prentices' Library  of  Boston.  At  that  time  the 
free-thought  associations  of  England  indicated 
a  higher  tone  of  vitality  than  any  of  their  kin  in 
this  country.  Thus  the  way  of  Mr.  Emerson's 
visit  to  England,  five  years  afterward,  as  an  in- 
vited lecturer,  was  gradually  prepared,  and  a  com- 
munity of  minds  educated  to  welcome  him,  even 
with  sympathetic  appreciation.  Nevertheless, 
though  in  listening  there  was  unity  of  interest, 
the  judgments  of  the  listeners  were  sharply  con- 
flicthig;  not  only  of  one  hearer  in  relation  to 
another,  but  of  each  individual  mind  at  different 
moments,  varying  with  the  contrasted  moods  in- 
duced by  the  original,  self-witnessing,  and  the 
directly  antithetic  affirmatives  of  oracular,  sibylline 
tone,  abounding  in  every  lecture. 

Caroline  Fox,  in  her  "  Memories  of  Old  Friends," 


thp:  era  of  mysticism.  189 

published  a  year  or  more  ago,  records  this  obser- 
vation of  Mrs.  Jane  Carlyle :  ''  She  tlionght  no 
good  would  come  of  Mr.  Emerson's  writings,  and 
grants  that  he  is  arrogant  and  short-coming." 
This  record  is  the  more  noteworthy  because  it  is 
well  known  that  Mrs.  Carlyle  had  expressed  in 
strong  terms,  written  and  unwritten,  her  interest 
in  reading  Mr.  Emerson  as  almost  exclusive,  ren- 
dering her  indifferent,  comparatively,  to  all  other 
writings  except  those  of  her  husband.  Both  state- 
ments may  be  truthful,  —  not  at  all  contradictory,  — 
whatsoever,  at  first,  the  verbal  seeming  may  sug- 
gest. For  the  Avorks  of  Mr.  Emerson,  regarded  as 
a  whole,  exhibit  conflicting  elements  of  the  actual 
and  speculative,  the  real  and  fanciful,  the  self- 
witnessing  generalization  and  the  illusive  half- 
truth  ;  so  that  we  are  by  turns,  short  or  long, 
attracted  and  repelled,  uplifted  and  depressed, 
instructed  and  mystified,  fascinated  and  shocked, 
charmed  by  a  poetic  optimism,  and  horrified  by  a 
logically  and  practically  inevitable  pessimism,  like 
that  voiced  by  Schopenhauer  as  a  regular  evolution 
of  the  data  furnished  by  "eternal  Nature."  From 
the  stand-point  occupied  by  Mr.  Emerson,  he  could 
reveal  no  way  of  escape  for  us  from  the  combina- 
tion of  terrible  forces  traced  by  Schopenhauer ; 
could  do  nothing,  in  fact,  but  what  he  did,  — 
namely,  denounce  the  philosopher  and  his  doctrine 


IQO  LIFE   NOTES. 

as  "dispiriting"  and  "odious."  But  this  mere 
emotionalism  ])rings  no  relief  from  the  horror  of 
that  pessimistic  abyss.  The  trend  of  the  younger 
free-thought  scliool  of  Germany  to-day  is  to  the 
enthronement  of  Schopenhauer  as  the  imperial 
thinker ;  not  fully  recognized  by  his  own  age,  but 
the  philosopher-laureate  of  ours.  If  we  would 
form  a  comprehensively  just  estimate  of  Mr.  Em- 
erson's prose  writings,  we  must  treat  them  in  a 
manner  analogous  to  that  of  Plato's  criticisms  of 
Homer,  set  forth  in  the  second  book  of  the  "  Re- 
public." There  Plato,  in  concert  with  Socrates, 
discriminates  the  qualities  of  Homer's  great  epic, 
and  demands  the  exclusion  from  the  ideal  republic 
of  the  poet's  conceptions  of  the  character  and 
conduct  of  the  gods,  on  account  of  their  influence 
in  demoralizing  the  republic's  youth.  Even  the 
greatest  work  of  "  the  godlike  Homer  "  Plato  would 
bring  to  trial  by  the  test-question,  "  What  fruit- 
age ?  "  From  the  copies  of  the  Iliad  admitted  to 
circulation,  he  required  the  elimination  of  certain 
mythological  elements.  So,  when  Mr.  Emerson's 
transcendental  intuitions  or  ecstatic  revelations, 
taking  form  as  oracles,  interpret  the  universe  to 
us  pantheistically,  bidding  every  soul,  though  sin- 
cerely denying  the  existence  of  a  personal  God,  to 
abandon  itself  to  a  blind  instinct  of  Nature-wor- 
ship, whensoever  the  ecstatic  mood  shall  impel  to 


THE   ERA    OF  MYSTICISM.  I91 

the  adoration  of  nature,  we  recognize  the  ideal 
identity  with  that  ohl  paganism  that  did  actually 
demoralize  Grecian  manhood  despite  its  culture, 
and  subordinated  cultured  intellect  to  an  ascetic 
Orientalism  on  the  one  hand,  or,  on  the  other,  to 
a  sensual  Nature-worship  akin  to  that  whereof 
Paul  spoke  as  abandonment  to  "  a  reprobate 
mind,"  and  whose  Oriental  sacred  writings  Max 
Miiller  has  sadly  said  he  cannot  make  presentable 
throughout,  by  a  fair  translation,  to  English-speak- 
ing peoples. 

CHARACTERIZATION   OF  THIS  IMTSTTC   SCHOOL. 

To  particularize :  in  his  lecture  on  ''  Self-Reli- 
ance  "  Mr.  Emerson  puts  the  central  thought  of 
his  teaching  in  a  short  preceptive  sentence,  thus : 
'^In  your  metapliysics  you  have  denied  personality 
to  the  Deity,  yet,  when  the  devout  motions  of  the 
soul  come,  yield  to  them  heart  and  life,  though 
they  should  clothe  God  with  shape  and  color." 
This  is  an  apt  expression  of  the  interior  spirit  of 
that  Alexandrian  Neo-Platonism  represented  by 
several  writers,  from  Plotinus  of  the  third  century 
to  Proclus  of  the  fifth  (to  the  study  of  whose 
works  Mr.  Emerson  especially  gave  himself  for  a 
year  or  more  preceding  the  issue  of  his  first  vol- 
ume, "  Nature  ")  :  a  scholastic  sectarianism  which, 
while  it  found  scope  and  play  for  the  intellect  in 


192  LIFE   NOTES. 

pliilosopliy,  eliminated  intellectuality  from  worship, 
subjecting  that,  in  its  purest  character  and  style, 
to  blind  emotional  instinct ;  thus  setting  up  a  sharp 
antithesis  to  that  essential  idea  of  Christian  wor- 
ship Avhich  Jesus  uttered,  in  view  of  the  mongrel 
or  eclectic  religionism  of  the  Samaritans,  when  he 
said,  '-^  Ye  worship  ye  know  not  what :  we  know 
what  we  worship/'  Even  so :  Christianity  rec- 
ognizes no  worship  as  genuine  when  emptied  of 
this  intellectual  discernment  of  its  object,  while 
Paganism  degrades  humanity  by  giving  supremacy 
to  a  blinding,  fanciful  caprice  under  the  name  of 
religion.  From  first  to  last,  such  worship  is,  in 
fact,  a  mere  superstition.  Thus,  when  a  mission- 
ary in  India  found  a  pagan  man  worshipping  before 
a  picture  as  a  household  god,  he  ventured  to  in- 
quire of  the  worshipper  if  he  knew  what  the  picture 
represented.  The  devout  man  said  he  did  not 
know.  ''  It  is,"  said  the  missionary,  ''a  picture  of 
the  Emperor  Napoleon."  —  ''Oh,  well,"  said  the 
worshipper,  ''you  know  we  must  worship  some- 
thing." 

DOWN\YAKD   TREND  OF   THIS   SCHOOL. 

In  regard  to  the  Neo-Platonic  school,  which 
seems  to  have  attracted  so  strongly  Mr.  Emerson's 
youthful  sympathies,  it  is  worthy  of  note  in  this 
connection,  that  John  Stuart  Mill,  as  a  literary 


THE  ERA    OF  MYSTICISM.  1 93 

critic,  fitly  characterized  it  eighteen  years  ago,  in  an 
article  on  "Grote's  Plato,"  "Edinburgh  Review," 
April,  1866,  wherein,  after  noting  the  complete- 
ness of  Grote's  work  as  far  as  it  had  gone,  he  pro- 
ceeds thus :  "  If  to  this  were  added  a  summary  of 
what  is  known  to  us  concerning  the  Pythagorean 
revival  and  the  later  Academy,  no  portion  of  purely 
Greek  thought  would  remain  untreated  of;  for 
Neo-Platonicism,  an  aftergrowth  of  late  date  and 
little  intrinsic  value,  was  a  hybrid  product  of  Greek 
and  Oriental  speculation,  and  its  place  in  history 
is  l)y  the  side  of  Gnosticism.  What  contact  it 
has  with  the  Greek  mind  is  with  that  mind  in  its 
decadence,  as  the  httle  in  Plato  which  is  allied  to 
it  belongs  chiefly  to  the  decadence  of  Plato's  own 
mind.  We  are  quite  reconciled  to  the  exclusion 
from  Mr.  Grote's  plan  of  this  tedious  and  unsatis- 
factory chapter  in  the  history  of  the  human  intel- 
lect."^ The  subtle  affinity  between  Mr.  Emerson's 
distinctive  style  and  line  of  thought,  and  the  old 
Gnosticism,  a  self-asserting  transcendental  philos- 
ophy, is  quite  clearly  apparent.  His  completed 
life-work  presents  him  to  the  world  as  the  first  New- 
Englander  —  or,  rather,  American  writer — whose 
speculative  trend  of  mind  took  sympathetically  to 
the  Gnostic  ideas,  and  whose  inherited  proclivity 

1  Dissertations  and  Disicussions,  Political,  Philosophical,  and  Historical, 
vol.  iv.  pp.  228,  229.    New  York  :  Heury  Uolt  &  Co. 


194  LIFE   NOTES. 

as  a  born  New-Englander  necessitated  the  effort  to 
combine  those  Oriental  elements  with  the  shrewd 
common-sense  of  practical  Yankee  life.  Yet,  alas  ! 
there  is  no  vital  unity.  The  incongruity  is  glaring, 
and  balks  all  effort  to  naturalize  the  alien  mysti- 
cism as  an  aider  to  home  culture.  The  American 
will  live  out  his  supreme  ideas,  whatsoever  they 
may  be,  in  religion  as  well  as  in  politics.  Let  him 
abandon  the  idea  of  a  personal  God,  a  divine 
Fatherhood,  as  primevally  revealed,  and  he,  then 
logically  agnostic,  will  not  worship  at  all,  utterly 
repelling  the  mystic's  thought  of  an  ecstatic  wor- 
sliip  ''  WITHOUT  IDEAS ; "  or,  if  he  yield  to  the 
mental  inebriation  of  an  aesthetic,  emotional  Na- 
ture-worship, he  will  drift  to  the  extreme  of  natu- 
ralistic spontaneity,  ignoring  the  mere  thought  of 
sin  or  evil  as  a  fossil  conventionalism,  and  say, 
perhaps,  like  the  gay  young  Ingersolian,  vindicat- 
ing his  moral  lawlessness,  "  It  is  pure  nature ; 
what  is  nice  to  me  is  nice  to  God." 

Hence,  what  fruitage?  Moral  and  social  dis- 
integration is  the  normal  aftergrowth. 

FORECASTING    OF   ULTIMATE   ISSUES. 

This  view  of  the  normal  issue  of  an  actual  trans- 
portation of  the  Neo-Platonic  mysticism  into  the 
popular  religious  conceptions  of  our  own  age  as  an 
element  of  "  Modern  Thought,"  is  not  discredited, 


THE   ERA    OE  MYSTICISM.  I95 

to  say  the  least,  by  Mr.  Emerson's  characterization 
of  the  moral  tone  of  his  own  time,  after  the  lapse 
of  nearly  half  a  century  from  the  beginning  of  his 
career.  In  his  article  entitled  "  The  Sovereignty 
of  Ethics,"  published  in  "  The  North-American 
Review,"  May,  1878,  he  clearly  recognizes  moral 
retrogression  rather  than  advancement,  saddened 
by  the  signs  of  the  outlook.  Having  referred  to 
men  of  the  past,  he  thus  disparages  those  of  the 
present :  "  I  confess  our  later  generation  appears 
ungirt,  frivolous,  compared  with  the  religions  of 
the  last  or  Calvinistic  age.  There  was  in  the  last 
century  a  serious,  habitual  reference  to  the  spirit- 
ual world,  running  through  diaries,  letters,  and 
conversations  — yes,  and  into  wills  and  legal  instru- 
ments also,  —  compared  with  which  our  liberation 
looks  a  little  foppish  and  dapper.  The  religion  of 
seventy  years  ago  was  as  an  iron  belt  to  the  mind, 
giving  it  concentration  and  force.  A  rude  people 
were  kept  respectable  by  the  determination  of 
thought  upon  the  eternal  world.  Now  men  fall 
abroad,  want  polarity,  suffer  in  character  and  intel- 
lect. A  sleep  creeps  over  the  great  functions  of 
men ;  enthusiasm  goes  out.  In  its  stead  a  low 
prudence  seeks  to  hold  society  stanch ;  but  its 
arms  are  too  short :  cordage  and  machinery  never 
supply  the  place  of  life.  The  more  intellectual 
reject  every  yoke  of   authority  with  a  petulance 


196  LIFE   NOTES. 

unprecedented.  It  is  a  sort  of  mark  of  probity 
and  sincerity  to  declare  how  little  you  believe, 
while  the  mass  of  the  community  indolently  follow 
the  old  forms  with  childish  scrupulousness  ;  and 
we  have  punctuality  for  faith,  and  good  taste  for 
character." 

Day  by  day  this  disparaging  characterization  be- 
comes more  profoundly  significant.  It  is  virtually 
an  historic  testimony  as  to  "  seeding  and  fruit- 
age "  within  the  writer's  field  of  observation.  But 
whence  this  tone  of  surprise?  Why  wonder? 
Can  any  higher  style  of  character  or  any  better 
moral  issues  be  fairly  looked  for  from  any  religion 
whatsoever,  old  or  new,  that  can  ignore  a  personal 
God,  ignore  the  reality  of  sin  as  a  positive  force, 
and  affirm  as  one  of  its  dogmata  that  "  evil  is  only 
good  in  the  making"?  Can  any  religion  thus 
assert  itself,  and  yet  continue  to  realize  its  own 
ideal  as  an  uplifting  or  a  transforming  power? 
No,  never !  The  old  Christian  recognition  of  "  a 
law  of  sin  "  that  is  itself  gravitation  to  a  moral 
abyss  on  the  one  hand,  and  a  personal  union  to 
Christ  by  a  loving  faith  as  in  itself  redemptive 
power  and  eternal  life  on  the  other,  is  the  tested 
remedy  "  worthy  of  all  acceptation." 


ERA    OF  HISTORICAL   ENTHUSIASM.         1 97 


XIV. 

ERA  OF   HISTORICAL   ENTHUSIASM. 
THE   SPIRIT   OF  RHODE  ISLAND   HISTORY. 

With  the  names  already  noted  pertaining  to 
the  ''transition  period"  (1830-34,  the  chronologi- 
cal point  of  distinction  between  Old  and  New 
Boston)  are  associated  the  memories  of  a  new 
era,  properly  recognized  as  the  era  of  historical 
enthusiasm.  The  curiously  critical  and  persistent 
taste  for  the  study  of  early  American  history  that 
had  asserted  itself  in  the  pursuits  of  comparatively 
few,  either  within  or  without  the  ranks  of  "the 
learned  professions,"  now  became  quite  widely 
popularized;  so  that  every  earnest  lecturer  or 
writer  felt  himself  stimulated  to  effort  in  this 
direction  by  a  new  environment  of  sympathetic 
interest.  This  turn  of  the  public  mind  dates  back 
to  the  second  decade  of  this  century,  and  was 
quickened  by  the  arrival  of  the  second  centennial 
birth-year  anniversaries  of  Plymouth,  Salem,  Bos- 
ton, and  the  other  primal  settlements  of  Old 
Massachusetts.     That  series  of  festal  years  was, 


198  LIFE  NOTES. 

ill  regard  to  tlie  determination  of  public  sentiment, 
a  revolutionizing  period.^  The  time  had  now  come 
when  it  was  possible  to  survey  the  broad  land- 
scape of  American  history  "  in  perspective  ;  "  that 
is,  to  see  the  sequences  of  things  in  their  real 
unity,  and  thus  in  their  historical  significance. 
Hitherto  this  inquiring  spirit  had  been  merely 
potential :  now  it  had  become,  comparatively 
speaking,  thoroughly  alive ;  rising  superior  to  all 
local  or  personal  antipathies,  and  rejoicing  in  the 
outlook  disclosed  from  this  bi-centennial  stand- 
point. 

PROGRESSIVE  CRITICISM. 

The  first  really  effective  expression  of  this  com- 
prehensively critical  spirit  was  given  publicly  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  W.  Upham,  minister  of  the 
First  Congregational  Church  of  Salem  (Unitarian), 
in  his  Lyceum  lecture,  addressed  to  an  audience 
in  Boston.  The  position  of  Roger  Williams  in 
world  history  was  by  him  clearly  distinguished  as 
that  of  the  true  exponent  of  a  supreme  idea,  even 
of  that  universal  religious  liberty  that  was  directly 
proclaimed  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  implied  in  all  the 
teachings  of  his  works  and  words.  Although  I 
was  not  present  at  the  delivery  of  that  lecture,  it 
was  immediately  reported  to  me  by  Rev.  John  O. 
Chonles,  D.D.,  of  Newport,  R.I.,  who  said  that 
the   lecturer   was   so   thoroughly   alive   with   the 

1  See  Appendices,  page  331. 


ERA    OF  HISTORICAL   ENTHUSIASM.         1 99 

spirit  of  Rhode  Island  history,  with  the  meaning 
and  suggestions  of  his  theme,  that  he  was  now 
and  then,  in  moments  of  excitement,  grasping  his 
white  handkerchief,  winding  it  around  his  hand, 
and  manoeuvring  with  it,  seemingly,  like  a  lady 
with  her  fan,  quite  unconscious  of  the  movement 
as  an  attempt  at  special  emphasizing,  or  of  any 
questioning  as  to  the  aptness  of  such  rare  elocu- 
tionary gesticulation  ;  thus  forgetting  himself,  and 
lost  in  his  subject,  he  spoke  with  the  eloquence  of 
true  enthusia'sm,  the  power  of  profound  convic- 
tion. The  warm  response  of  the  audience  was 
the  index  of  the  critical  judgment  of  that  passing 
generation,  comprehensive  and  final. 

ROGER  Williams's  place  in  history. 

A  contemporaneous  public  expression  of  this 
historical  judgment,  pertaining  to  that  period,  was 
the  oration  of  Mr.  Justice  Story,  called  forth  by 
the  second  centennial  anniversary  of  the  settle- 
ment of  Salem,  and  delivered  in  the  sanctuary  of 
that  old  First  Church  of  Salem,  to  whom  Dr.  Up- 
ham  was  ministering,  —  a  discourse  that  occupied 
three  hours  of  time,  gladly  yielded,  wherein  the 
judicial  orator  uttered  the  affirmation,  so  often 
quoted,  that  the  charter  of  Rhode  Island,  pro- 
cured from  Charles  II.  by  Roger  Williams,  was 
"•the  first  royal  proclamation  of  religious  liberty, 


200  LIFE  NOTES. 

for  man  as  man,  that  the  world  had  heard  since 
Christianity  had  ascended  the  throne  of  the 
Caesars."  This  declaration,  thus  fitly  announced 
from  the  pulpit  of  the  church  that  historically 
represented  the  ecclesiastico-civil  power  that  had 
banished  Roger  Williams  from  Salem,  was  a  new 
"  sign  of  the  sky,"  voicing  the  new  thought  of  the 
present,  and  the  critical  judgment  of  the  future. 

Pertaining  to  this  period,  and  thus  associated 
in  memory  with  the  historical  discourse  of  Mr. 
Justice  Story,  was  the  first  volume  of  the  history 
of  the  United  States  from  the  pen  of  George  Ban- 
croft, who  was  recognized  and  welcomed  at  once 
by  the  press  and  the  people  not  merely  as  a  faith- 
ful chronicler  of  facts,  but  as  their  interpreter; 
uniting  keen  insight  and  the  faculty  of  minute 
analysis  with  justness  of  generalization,  and  able 
thence  to  comprehend  the  unity  of  the  nation's 
story,  to  discern  and  set  forth  the  ideas  that  must 
rule  as  guiding  lights  of  its  future.  In  no  par- 
ticular did  the  power  of  the  author,  througliout 
that  first  volume,  assert  itself  more  effectively  in 
winning  appreciation  than  in  the  simple  force  of 
thought  and  style,  whereby,  despitfe  the  inheritance 
of  old  antipathies,  that  were  still  cherished  and 
domesticated  throughout  his  early  surroundings, 
he  determined  for  all  time  the  true  historical 
position  of  Roger  Williams  as  the  inaugurator  of 


ERA    OF  HISTORICAL   ENTHUSIASM.         20I 

the  new  era  of  religious  liberty.  It  may  be 
justly  said,  that,  as  to  greatness  of  personal 
achievement  in  revolutionizing  public  sentiment, 
Carlyle  never  exhibited  much  greater  power  in  his 
transformation  of  English  public  oj)inion  regard- 
ing the  significance  of  the  French  Revolution,  or 
of  the  career  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  than  did  Ban- 
croft in  revolutionizing  the  public  sentiment  of 
tliis  nation  (outside  of  Rhode  Island)  regarding 
the  relation  of  Roger  Williams  to  the  whole  world- 
wide history  of  humanity. 

BIOGRAPHERS   OF   ROGER   WTTJJAMS. 

At  the  same  time,  there  was  felt  throughout  the 
State  of  Rhode  Island,  and  over  the  land  gener- 
ally, more  especially  by  the  Baptists  and  many 
thousands  in  sympathy  with  them,  the  want  of  a 
"  Life  of  Roger  Williams,"  worthy  to  be  accepted 
as  an  exponent  of  their  views  of  him,  of  his  char- 
acter and  mission.  To  all  it  seemed  fitting  that 
the  contribution  of  such  a  volume,  bridging  over 
a  chasm  in  historical  literature,  should  be  the 
work  of  a  Rhode-Islander.  As  soon  as  that 
sense  of  need  found  open  expression,  we  saw  that 
its  demand  had  been  already  provided  for.  The 
pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  of  Boston, 
Rev.  James  D.  Knowles  (afterwards  professor  at 
Newton),  the  immediate  successor  of  Dr.  Thomas 


202  LIFE  NOTES. 

Baldwin,  was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  early 
schooled  in  journalistic  life,  a  fit  representative  of 
the  spirit  of  Rhode  Island  history.  By  hosts  of 
friends,  far  and  near,  he  was  called  upon  to  accept 
''his  proper  mission,"  as  they  interpreted  it. 
Greatly  to  their  credit,  his  church  Avere  in  sympa- 
thy with  the  historical  enthusiasm  of  the  time,  and 
favored  the  giving  of  his  whole  strength  to  this 
service  for  several  successive  weeks,  apart  from 
them,  amid  the  surroundings  of  his  early  home, 
and  the  archives  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical 
Society  in  Providence.  On  his  part,  it  was  a  work 
most  lovingly  begun,  and  thence  nobly  accom- 
plished. Thus  Knowles's  *'  Life  of  Roger  Wil- 
liams "  lives  to-day,  a  trusted  "  authority "  in 
American  historj^  It  became,  too,  a  source  of 
inspiration  to  other  writers  of  kindred  mind ;  and 
thus  the  critically  supplementary  biography  of 
the  founder  of  Rhode  Island,  by  Professor  William 
Gammell,  LL.D.,  and  the  tribute  of  spontaneous 
loyalty  from  the  pen  of  Romeo  Elton,  D.D.,  have 
been  added  to  the  literary  treasures  of  our  time. 

This  reference  to  Professor  Knowles  re-awakens 
a  keen  sense  of  bereavement  caused  by  a  death 
which  seemed  quite  untimely,  occurring  soon  after 
he  had  won  the  gratitude  of  Christendom  by  his 
"Life  of  Mrs.  Ann  Hasseltine  Judson."  While 
interesting  himself  editorially  in  the  establishment 


ERA    OF  HISTORICAL   ENTHUSIASM.         203 

of  "  The  Christian  Review,"  he  was  taken  from  us 
in  his  prime,  most  mysteriously,  smitten  by  small- 
pox after  his  return  from  a  convention  in  New 
York,  at  his  house  in  Newton,  and  buried  hastily 
by  friendly  hands  in  the  gloom  of  night;  thus 
suddenly  leaving  the  professor's  chair  a  chilling 
vacancy. 

KIXDEED  TASTES   OF   DR.   STOW. 

His  successor  in  the  pastorate  of  the  Second  Bap- 
tist Church  of  Boston  was  the  Rev.  Baron  Stow, 
D.D.,  well  remembered  as  the  early  friend  and 
educational  co-worker  of  i\Ir.  Knowles  in  Colum- 
bia College,  Washington,  D.C.,  and  welcomed  to 
the  pastoral  care  in  Boston  in  the  year  1832,  after 
the  resignation  of  his  charge  in  Portsmouth,  N.H., 
his  native  State.  On  behalf  of  the  ministering 
brotherhood  and  the  sisterhood  of  churches,  it 
was  made  my  duty  to  extend  to  him  the  welcome 
expressed  by  the  hand  of  fellowship.  There,  in 
the  old  church-home  of  Baldwin  Place,  through- 
out an  active  and  most  effective  ministry  of  fifteen 
years,  he  labored  persistently,  until,  in  1848,  he 
was  prostrated  by  sickness  and  nervous  debility 
that  confined  him  closely  at  home  for  three  months. 
From  this  deep  physical  depression,  however,  he 
recovered  his  strength  gradually,  and  became,  no 
doubt,   better   qualified   thereby  for   his   twenty- 


204  LIFE   NOTES. 

years'  mission  in  the  new  edifice  of  the  Federal- 
street  Church  (corner  of  Rowe  and  Bedford 
Streets,  near  the  old  Latin  and  English  High 
Schools),  where,  while  the  family-life  of  North 
End  was  being  driven  away  by  trade  or  handi- 
craft, and  while  South  End  was  in  process  of  con- 
struction, he  continued  to  draw  around  him  in  his 
central  position  the  scores  of  young  people  and 
young  families  that  would  otherwise  have  been 
drifting  away  from  fitting  church  relations,  unrec- 
ognized and  homeless.  Many  of  these,  drawn 
into  compact  church-organism,  became,  during  an 
unsettled  twenty-years'  period  of  municipal  recon- 
structions, a  power  for  good,  a  rallying-point  of 
moral  forces  that  would  otherwise  have  been  scat- 
tered abroad,  a  debilitating  loss  of  denominational 
life-blood.  Dr.  Stow  saw  the  importance  of  his 
new  position  in  this  light,  and  rejoiced  in  his  field 
of  work  with  the  feeling  of  renovated  youth. 
His  distinguishing  power  lay  in  his  faculty  of  con- 
centrating all  the  energies  of  his  nature  upon  his 
immediate  home-work,  either  of  the  pastorate  or 
pulpit ;  and  thence  sprang  forth  those  revival  har- 
vests of  transformed  characters  that  were  ever 
replenishhig  his  church-membership.  Within  this 
sphere  of  action  his  studied  sermons  were  all 
alive  with  quickening  thought,  with  keen,  incisive 
speech,  revealing  the  individual  soul  to  itself,  and 


ERA    OF  HISTORICAL   ENTHUSIASM.         205 

thus  leading  it  into  that  true  rehation  to  Christ 
which  meets  its  need  for  both  workls. 

After  the  lapse  of  twenty  years  in  his  second 
Boston  ministry,  Dr.  Stow  saw  with  sadness  that 
the  topographical  situation  of  his  church  was  not 
permanent,  —  would  not  last  even  for  his  own  life- 
time. Its  essential  needs  as  a  family  church  would 
require  its  removal  to  the  new  centre  of  family- 
life.  Of  course,  this  view  must  have  become 
depressing,  unrelieved  by  any  programme  or  fore- 
casting that  would  offer  scope  for  fresh  and  hope- 
ful activity.  He  expressed  the  conviction  that 
his  earthly  work  had  been  finished,  that  he  had 
"served  his  generation,"  and  that  no  man  could 
serve  any  generation  but  his  own.  Some  of  his 
friends,  we  know,  tried  earnestly  to  broaden  and 
cheer  this  outlook.  Nevertheless,  he  continued  to 
emphasize  his  own  cherished  idea,  and  thus  uncon- 
sciously invested  his  sudden  departure  with  that 
aspect  of  fitness  whereof  the  ancient  poet  spake 
when  he  associated  the  approach  of  the  good  man 
to  his  grave  in  full  age  with  the  beauty  of  the 
ripened  shock  of  wheat  garnered  "  in  its  season." 

The  quickened  historical  spirit  of  his  time  Dr. 
Stow  largely  shared, — a  fact  memorialized  by  a 
pocket  volume,  tracing  the  history  of  the  church 
that  he  first  served,  commemorating  its  struggles 
and  its  more  sunny  seasons  under  the  ministry  of 


206  LIFE  NOTES. 

Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  Baldwin,  and  also  of  his  suc- 
cessor, Professor  James  D.  Knowles.  In  recent 
days  its  fortunes  have  shown  marked  contrasts  of 
rise  and  decline.  The  disintegration  of  the  old 
homesteads,  and  the  avalanches  of  foreign  immigra- 
tion, made  the  surroundings  a  sort  of  chaos. 
There  were  no  young  families:  all  liad.  drifted 
away ;  but  of  this  depression  a  ^'  Remnant "  deliv- 
ered itself  under  the  leadership  of  Rev.  Dr.  D.  C. 
Eddy,  a  man  gifted  with  those  historical  sym- 
pathies that  render  the  loved  ones  of  the  past  a 
perpetual  inspiration,  so  that  the  voice  of  the 
weakened  church,  calling  him  from  Philadelphia, 
seemed  imperative.  It  was  his  accepted  mission 
to  see  that  persistent  Remnant  re-established  in  a 
beautiful  church-home  on  Warren  Avenue,  where, 
in  its  continuous  growth  under  the  youthful  min- 
istry of  Rev.  O.  P.  Gifford,  it  is  now  realizing  the 
prosperity  of  its  brightest  days. 

HISTORIC   SENSE   OP    REV.   DR.   ROLLTN    H.   NEALE. 

These  references  to  Dr.  Stow's  continued  par- 
ticipation in  the  revived  historical  interest  of  his 
earlier  days,  remind  us  that  his  neighbor,  Dr. 
Neale,  was  a  lifelong  kindi-ed  spirit,  and  that  this 
cherished  taste  was  fitly  expressed  by  his  contri- 
bution of  a  published  "  Historical  Discourse,"  called 
forth  by   the   second    centennial    anniversary   of 


ERA    OF  HISTORICAL   ENTHUSIASM.         20^ 

the  First  Church,  founded  in  1665,  —  an  eloquent 
expansion  of  the  sentiment  that  animated  his 
"election  sermon"  of  1852,  delivered  before  the 
Governor  and  Council  and  the  Legislature  of 
Massachusetts,  in  the  Old  South  Church.  His 
half-century's  life-work  I  have  already  set  forth 
in  volume  form. 

ESTO  perpetua! 

This  historical  enthusiasm  thus  noted  as  of 
itself  an  impelling  power,  that,  by  a  series  of 
second  centennial  celebrations,  made  old  Massa- 
chusetts, from  Cape  Cod  to  the  Berkshire  Hills, 
conscious  of  a  quickened  pulse-beat,  should  be 
sympathetically  cherished  by  the  whole  Baptist 
denomination  throughout  these  United  States. 
There  is  no  body  of  people  upon  this  planet  more 
strongly  held  in  unity  by  simply  moral  forces,  and 
thus  distinguished  from  the  unifications  formed 
by  merely  natural  bonds  or  legally  inherited  rela- 
tions, irrespective  of  character  and  free  choice. 
There  are  none,  therefore,  whose  organic  unity 
can  be  nourished  from  deeper  sources  of  a  gen- 
uine historical  enthusiasm.  Professor  Heman 
Lincoln  of  Newton,  for  successive  years,  as  it 
seems,  impelled  by  this  sentiment,  has  wrought 
well  for  its  diffusion.  May  his  example  "provoke 
many,"  encouraging  all  of  us.     It  is  not  a  mere 


2o8  LIFE  NOTES. 

esprit  de  corps,  or  traditional  sentiment,  here 
appealed  to,  but  a  miglity  sympathy  growing  out 
of  defined  ideas  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom;  a 
subtle  force,  widely  ignored,  yet  ever  working  and 
ever  modifying  the  course  of  world  history. 


ASPECTS  OF  RHODE  ISLAND  LIFE,  209 


XV. 

ASPECTS  OF  EHODE  ISLAND  LIFE. 
KEMOVAL  FPvOM  BOSTON  TO   PEOVIDENCE. 

Already  I  have  had  occasion,  in  connection 
with  memories  of  well-known  names,  to  allude  to 
my  removal  from  Boston  to  Providence  in  the 
early  summer  of  1837,  responsive  to  the  invita- 
tion of  the  church  that  is  historically  known  as 
the  First  Baptist  Church  of  America,  whereof 
Roger  Williams  was  the  first  minister.  That  in- 
vitation came  in  the  early  spring ;  but  as  I  had 
entered  just  then  upon  the  seventh  year  of  my 
pastorate  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Boston, 
more  than  ordinarily  interested  in  plannings  for 
the  future,  the  call  was  declined  for  what  were 
regarded  as  adequate  reasons.  It  was  repeated, 
however,  three  months  afterward,  and  so  presented 
by  President  Wayland,  a  predecessor  in  the  Boston 
pastorate,  as  to  seem  morally  imperative.  Al- 
though the  motives  of  action  in  this  case  com- 
mended themselves  to  the  approval  of  all  the 
acting  parties,  the  sundering  of  ties  pertaining  to 
this  cherished  relationship  was  a  painful  process. 


2IO  LIFE  NOTES. 


SUBTLE  WORKING   OF   HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATIONS. 

Nevertheless,  years  afterward  there  seemed, 
retrospectively^  in  this  unsought  transfer  a  trace 
of  dim  forecastings  strangely  realized ;  for,  in 
days  of  youth,  the  story  of  Roger  Williams,  as 
first  told  at  home  in  the  family  circle,  invested 
Providence  and  all  Rhode  Island  with  a  more  than 
romantic  interest.  My  first  sight  of  the  old  First 
Baptist  Church  edifice  of  Providence,  in  1828,  was 
far  more  thrilling  and  uplifting,  as  being  ever 
closely  associated  with  all  that  is  sublime  in 
human  character  and  history,  than  was  my  first 
view  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome  in  1838,  when  those 
two  structures,  so  far  apart,  not  even  within  the 
range  of  comparison  architecturally,  were  present 
to  my  thought  as  the  types  of  antagonistic  ideas 
that  were  so  vital,  so  irreconcilable,  suggesting 
the  elements  of  continuous  conflict.  From  early 
school-days,  these  associations  of  thought  had  in- 
vested Rhode  Island  with  an  unrivalled  ideal 
greatness,  despite  the  smallness  of  her  geographical 
area.  She  had,  indeed,  seemed  the  greatest  of 
the  States ;  a  self-asserting  sentiment,  aptly  vindi- 
cated, I  may  say,  by  Lord  Chief  Justice  Cole- 
ridge, at  his  reception  in  the  Music  Hall  of  New 
York,  when,  referring  to  the  talked-of  territorial 
vastness  of  the  United  States,  he  said  that  he  was 


ASPECTS  OF  RHODE   ISLAND   LIFE.         211 

not  particularly  impressed  with  that,  and  added, 
"  What  of  the  size  of  your  country  ?  You  didn't 
make  it.  It  is  not  size,  but  products,  that  are  to 
be  looked  at."     Even  so  :  — 

"  It  is  the  water  makes  the  gem,  and  not  the  size." 

When  the  statue  of  the  founder  of  Rhode  Island, 
wrought  by  an  American  artist  in  the  city  of 
Rome,  was  set  in  its  place  by  Congress  in  the 
Capitol  at  Washington,  Rhode  Island's  world-wide 
victory  for  man  as  man  was  fitly  signalized. 
There  it  stands  to-day,  awaiting  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  the  ideal  that  it  represents.  In  ac- 
cordance with  this  conception,  long  dominant,  a 
call  to  accept  the  vacant  place  in  the  ministerial 
succession  of  Roger  Williams  became  practically 
authoritative ;  and  thus  the  parting  from  the  First 
Church  of  Boston  was  the  recognition  of  a  Su- 
preme Providence  that  becomes  to  all  living  souls 
its  own  interpreter. 

A  CHUBCH  RETROSPECT   AND   ITS  LESSON. 

The  old  historic  First  Church  of  Providence, 
after  the  departure  of  its  honored  patriarchal  pas- 
tor. Rev.  Dr.  Stephen  Gano  (1828),  had  been 
favored  with  the  ministry  of  Rev.  Robert  Everett 
Pattison,  D.D.,  afterward  president  of  Waterville 
College,  Maine,  now  Colby  University.     His  com- 


212  LIFE  NOTES. 

ing,  after  a  long  pastoral  bereavement,  was  to  the 
church  a  spiritual  rejuvenation,  touching  and 
quickening  the  younger  class  of  his  own  contem- 
poraries. Following  him  in  June,  1837,  I  found 
much  of  welcomed  co-operation  among  those  wlio 
had  entered  the  communion  of  the  church  under 
his  teachings.  Some  of  these  I  had  known  before, 
having  at  different  times  aided  Dr.  Pattison  in 
sustaining  his  series  of  week-day  gatherings. 
Thence  onward,  for  successive  months,  there  was 
a  progressive  spirit  of  inquiry,  affecting  the  tone 
of  thought  and  talk  throughout  our  surroundings. 
To  the  enhancement  of  this  interest  several  stu- 
dents of  the  university  freely  contributed ;  and 
the  union  of  the  old  and  the  young  in  the  re-unions 
of  the  vestry-service,  —  the  pastor  presiding,  — 
with  all  the  freedom  of  the  old-fashioned  Rhode 
Island  style  of  conference,  won  fresh  attention, 
and  made  lasting  impressions  of  the  reality  and 
self-witnessing  power  of  that  New-Testament 
Christianity  whereof  that  ancient  church  had  been, 
during  two  centuries,  a  stalwart  witness. 

In  this  connection,  therefore,  it  is  noteworthy, 
that  from  first  to  last,  thus  far,  without  any  ivritten 
creed  except  the  New  Testament  itself,  as  it  was 
said,  this  church  had  passed  the  most  severe 
ordeals  of  stability,  maintaining  a  primitive  unity 
of  faith.     Throughout  those  stormy  controversies 


ASPECTS   OF  RHODE   ISLAND   LIFE.  21 3 

that  swept  over  New  England  during  tlie  first 
quarter  of  this  century,  shaking  from  their  l)ases 
the  old  Puritan  churches,  and  thus  reshaping  what 
they  called  "the  New  England  Theology,"  this 
church  continued  to  increase  its  membership,  with- 
out any  conservatively  formulated  creed,  or  any 
symbols  of  its  faith  except  what  was  contained  in 
the  apostolic  Scripture,  and  the  two  external  ordi- 
nances, that  were,  of  themselves,  Christ's  own  ap- 
pointed "confessions"  of  the  distinctive  doctrines 
of  Christianity.  These  two  outward  symbols, 
baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  kept  in  their  unity 
as  attesting  those  ideas  wherewith  they  w^ere 
originally  vocal,  are  of  themselves  sufficiently  con- 
servative without  the  addition  of  any  dogma. 

THE  UNIVERSITY   AND   ITS  PKESIDENT. 

Brown  University,  just  now  advanced  into  the 
second  decade  of  President  Wayland's  administra- 
tion, was  "at  its  best"  compared  with  the  view 
of  any  preceding  period.  There  was  vitality 
throughout,  — a  fact  emphasized  in  the  thought  of 
those  who  remembered  the  low  state  of  decline 
out  of  which  it  had  been  uplifted.  At  the  begin- 
ning, a  thorough  work  of  reconstruction  had  been 
achieved  ;  and,  as  in  the  rebuilding  of  Jerusalem 
after  the  Captivity,  there  was  much  rubbish  to  be 
removed,  so  here  was  an  accumulation   of  dead 


214  ^^^^^  NOTES. 

routine  to  be  gotten  rid  of.  There  were,  of  course, 
deep-set  prejudices  to  be  encountered ;  but  all  the 
antecedents  of  Dr.  Wa^dand's  life  seemed  like  a 
divinely  ordered  preparation  for  the  educational 
needs  of  the  times.  Ever  at  hand  as  a  sympa- 
thetic friend,  wise  counsellor,  and  effective  co- 
worker, was  Professor  William  G.  Goddard, 
whose  distinguished  position  as  a  scholar,  writer, 
and  teacher  qualified  him  exceptionally  to  act  as 
an  aid  to  Dr.  Wayland  in  actualizing  his  ideas, 
and  thus  becoming  "master  of  the  situation." 

Soon  after  the  president  had  "  settled "  the 
status  of  the  University,  as  to  its  aims  and  meth- 
ods, he  found  himself  at  liberty  to  undertake  the 
task  of  meeting  a  special  need  of  the  time  by  pro- 
viding a  text-book  for  the  study  and  teaching  of 
moral  philosophy.  His  intention  had  been  an- 
nounced in  advance  of  the  work.  At  that  time. 
Rev.  Dr.  Choules  of  Newport,  R.I.,  visiting  Eng- 
land, met  the  eminent  essayist  John  Foster,  and, 
in  the  course  of  talk,  incidentally  mentioned  that 
President  Wayland  was  engaged  in  writing  a  text- 
book on  moral  philosophy.  On  hearing  this, 
Foster  smiled,  and,  opening  his  ej^es  with  an 
expression  of  curious  or  dubious  surprise,  rejDcated 
musingly  the  words  of  his  informant:  "Moral 
philosophy,  —  a  text-book  on  moral  philosophy  ? 
Sir,   that   is   no    child's   play."        The   tone   and 


ASPECTS   OF  RHODE   ISLAND   LIFE.  21 5 

manner  of  the  essayist  indicated  that  it  seemed 
rather  queer  that  the  attempt  of  an  educator  to 
supersede  Paley's  work  should  proceed  from 
America,  and  from  the  college  of  Rhode  Island. 
This  incident  is  the  more  noteworthy  because  no 
living  Englishman  had,  by  his  writing,  shown  any 
capacity  of  appreciating  the  relation  of  Rhode 
Island  to  world  history  in  comparison  with  John 
Foster.  It  was  his  fortune,  however,  to  see  Dr. 
Wayland's  work  welcomed  far  and  Avidely  over 
the  English-speaking  world  as  a  contribution  of 
thought  adjusted  to  the  want  of  the  time;  a  moral 
philosophy  grounded  not  upon  utilitarianism,  but 
upon  self-witnessing  principles  intuitively  per- 
ceived, and  recognized  as  supreme  truth, 

Foster's  comprehension  of  historic  issues. 

This  reference  to  John  Foster  recalls  him  as 
remembered,  in  1839,  at  his  beautiful  home  in  the 
vicinity  of  Bristol,  Eng.,  where  Hon.  Samuel  G. 
Arnold  of  Providence  (then  a  college  student) 
and  myself,  fellow-travellers,  having  been  properly 
introduced,  enjoyed  an  hour's  free  talk,  the  topics 
all  of  mutual  interest.  My  companion  was  much 
pleased  to  learn  that  the  great  essayist  was  then 
engaged  in  writing  a  review  article  that  would 
lead  him  to  emphasize  the  significance  of  Rhode 
Island  history.     The  communication  of  this  fact 


2l6  LIFE  NOTES. 

was  a  fresh  stimulus  to  the  student's  trend  of 
thought;  for  already,  he  had  been  f(jrecasting  his 
plan  of  life,  including  graduation  at  Brown  Uni- 
versity and  the  Cambridge  Law  School,  then 
more  foreign  travel  as  educational  in  relation  to 
commerce,  comprising,  too,  the  devotion  of  suc- 
cessive years  to  the  writing  out  from  original 
sources  the  history  of  his  native  State.  This  plan 
was  thoroughly  actualized.  Ten  years  of  toil 
completed  the  two  volumes  of  Rhode  Island  his- 
tory, that  aptly  met  a  need  of  his  own  time,  and 
are  therefore  assured  of  the  highest  appreciation 
in  the  centuries  to  come  a^  a  standard  historical 
authority.  At  the  period  of  the  visit  here  men- 
tioned, it  so  happened  that  T  was  preparing  to 
meet  the  appointment  to  deliver,  soon  after  my 
return  home,  the  commemorative  discourse  occa- 
sioned by  the  two  hundredth  anniversary  of  the 
organization  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of 
America.  Young  Arnold  was  intently  observant 
of  every  fact  or  incident  pertaining  to  this  work, 
keenly  S3'mpathetic  with  its  ideas  and  aim.  This 
early  historic  enthusiasm  was  lifelong.  It  was  fitly 
recognized  to  his  latest  day  in  his  prolonged  presi- 
dency of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society ;  and 
all  his  occasional  addresses,  called  forth  through- 
out his  career,  literary  or  political,  are  alive  with 
the  expanding  spirit  of  Rhode  Island  history. 


ASPECTS  OF  RHODE  ISLAND  LIFE.  21/ 

THE  COLONIAL  FAMILIES   "A   LIVING  PRESENCE." 

During  the  series  of  years  here  recalled  (1837- 
40),  the  Rhode  Island  families  of  Colonial  days 
were  made  to  seem  to  us  "  a  living  presence  "  by 
their  immediate  representatives  greeting  us  in  the 
streets  and  in  our  social  gatherings,  the  very 
sounding  of  their  names  associating  with  us  those 
whose  lives  had  been  identified  with  the  histories 
of  the  Church,  the  city,  and  the  State.  Our 
senior  deacons  were  living  in  the  cherished  past, 
and  in  their  talks  would  sometimes  carry  us  back 
into  company  with  the  men  and  women  of  the 
eighteenth  century  who  were  present  at  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  church-edifice  while  Rhode  Island  was 
yet  an  English  colony.  Near  the  old  pulpit  was  the 
family  pew  of  the  Hon.  Nicholas  Brown  (whose 
name,  as  a  benefactor,  the  University  commemo- 
rates), from  whicli  he  was  seldom  absent  during  a 
half-century  of  sabbath  services.  As  time  was 
now  telling  effectively  upon  his  naturally  hale 
frame,  it  was  a  privilege  to  feel  one's  self,  however 
briefly,  his  contemporary.  Recognized  as  the  head 
of  a  mercantile  house  (Brown  &  Ives)  eminently 
representing  the  rise  of  American  commerce  in  its 
relations  to  the  old  East,  his  gentlemanly  address, 
his  genial  manner  and  paternal  air,  in  keeping 
with  the  somewhat  antique    cut   of  his  apparel. 


2l8  LIFE  NOTES. 

awakened  in  the  breasts  of  the  young  a  truly  filial 
feeling,  and  in  others  ideal  conceptions  of  the 
princely  English  merchant  who  figures  historically 
in  the  van  of  English  Christian  philanthropy. 

My  personal  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Brown 
dates  back  to  1828,  just  before  the  beginning  of 
my  student-life  in  Newton  Theological  Seminary, 
and  extended  to  1840,  the  time  of  his  departure, — 
a  period  of  twelve  years.  Conspicuous  within  the 
home  circle  of  Mr.  Brown  was  Ex  Gov.  Francis, 
his  son-in-law,  yet  in  his  prime ;  and,  though 
residing  in  the  neighborhood,  at  his  own  home- 
stead, Pawtuxet,  as  much  as  ever  at  the  centre  of 
affairs  in  the  city  and  the  State,  —  a  man  of  cul- 
ture and  commanding  presence,  to  whom  civil  and 
social  leadership  came  naturally,  without  self- 
assertion.  Mr.  John  Carter  Brown,  who  inherited 
his  father's  interest  in  the  promotion  of  letters 
and  sound  learning,  and  whose  name  is  now  fitly 
commemorated  by  the  new  home  for  tlie  library, 
while  occupying  his  place  in  the  old  mercantile 
house,  was  cultivating  his  taste  for  rare  books  in 
comparative  quietude. 

That  whole  series  of  years,  indeed,  looms  up  in 
perspective,  lustrous  with  personal  memories.  As 
early  as  the  second  year  of  President  Wayland's 
administration,  the  rejuvenation  of  the  college 
was  felt  throughout  the  community  as  a  quicken- 


ASPECTS  OF  RHODE   ISLAND   LIFE.         219 

ing  of  intellectual  and  social  life.  In  the  Faculty 
there  was  no  scholastic  recluse.  Though  pro- 
fessionally expert  within  the  range  of  their  set 
specialties,  like  Professors  Alva  Woods,  Alexis 
Caswell,  Romeo  Elton  (and  then,  erelong.  Pro- 
fessors Gammell,  Chase,  Lincoln,  and  Harkness), 
they  were  happily  social,  and  thus  influential  be- 
yond the  area  of  college-life.  Dr.  Woods,  how- 
ever, was  soon  called  away  from  the  chair  of 
mathematics  to  the  presidency  of  the  State  Uni- 
versity of  Kentucky,  and  later  to  that  of  the 
State  of  Alabama ;  and  his  pleasant  home  in 
Providence,  presided  over  by  Mrs.  Woods  (nee 
Marshall),  was  regretfully  missed  by  many,  and 
is  now  remembered  as  a  characterizing  feature  of 
the  society  of  Providence  more  than  fifty  years 
ago.  Here,  too,  it  may  be  noted,  that,  however 
appreciatively  or  partially  wx  may  speak  of  the 
leading  men  of  that  time,  it  may  be  truly  said 
that  the  proper  balance  of  a  true  home -life  was 
admirably  sustained  by  the  women,  who  realized 
one's  best  ideal  of  cultivated  American  and  Chris- 
tian womanhood.  And  of  these  it  seems  not 
improper  to  recall  the  name  of  Mr.  Nicholas 
Brown's  widowed  sister,  Mrs.  Hope  Ives,  whose 
memory  has  been  so  reverently  cherished  b}^  the 
citizenship  of  Providence,  even  "  unto  the  third 
and  fourth  generation." 


220  LIFE   NOTES. 

COSMOPOLITAN  FREEDOM   OF   SOCIAL  LIFE. 

In  awakening  memories  of  the  social  life  of 
Providence  during  my  ministry,  from  1837  to 
1840,  I  am  impressed  with  its  geniality,  freedom, 
and  intellectual  activity.  Never  in  that  city  had 
there  been,  comparatively,  much  recognition  of 
ecclesiastical  and  denominational  distinctions  in 
social  any  more  than  in  civil  life.  For  more  than 
two-thirds  of  a  century  the  university  had  been 
a  source  of  intellectual  quickening  to  the  com- 
munity, modifying  the  character  of  the  beautiful 
little  capital.  At  the  same  time,  there  had  been 
a  diffusion  of  Avealth,  refinement,  and  culture 
sufficient  to  impart  to  general  society  a  tone  and 
spirit  quite  cosmopolitan.  Men  and  women,  rep- 
resentatives of  almost  every  school  of  thought,  — 
evangelical,  transcendental,  theological,  philosophi- 
cal, literary,  or  scientific, — might  be  found,  even 
in  small  clubs  or  social  gatherings,  drawn  to- 
gether by  a  common  interest  in  mental  acquisi- 
tion. Within  my  own  area  of  religious  affinities, 
this  freedom  was  an  educational  element,  aiding 
clearness  of  thinking,  and  more  effective  expres- 
sion of  distinctively  Christian  ideas.  From  the 
prolific  field  of  modern  Congregational  Unitarian- 
ism  a  new  school  of  religious  "free  thought"  had 
naturally  developed  itself.     Thence  proceeded  the 


ASPECTS  OF  RHODE  ISLAND   LIFE.         221 

new  formulation  of  doctrine  known  as  Transcen- 
dentalism, affirming  the  all-sufficiency  of  natural 
intuition  as  the  divine  inner  light,  transcending 
all  sense-knowledge  Avhatsoever ;  and  of  this  ultra- 
istically  ideal  school  Margaret  Fuller  Avas  the 
leading  expositor.  As  a  conversationalist  she  was 
unrivalled;  and  conversation  was  her  favorite 
mode  of  teaching  either  the  young  ladies  of  her 
school,  or  the  men  and  women  of  her  classes  in 
the  German  language,  literature,  or  philosophy. 
How  often,  indeed,  I  had  occasion  to  speak  of  her 
as  the  Hypatia  of  the  nineteenth  century !  If 
Charles  Kingsley,  who  has  so  finely  pictured  the 
Hypatia  of  the  fourth  century,  the  gifted  woman 
who  attracted  to  her  lecture-hall  the  youthful  in- 
tellects of  Alexandria,  intent  upon  winning  their 
acceptance  of  Greek  Paganism  as  a  true  Nature- 
religion,  could  have  joined  a  re-union  of  Marga- 
ret Fuller,  he  would  have  been  tempted  to  hint, 
however  fancifully,  the  re-incarnation  of  his  hero- 
ine. But  as  to  the  battle-grounds  of  their  one 
work,  Alexandria  in  the  fourth  century  and  Provi- 
dence in  the  nineteenth  were  sharply  contrasted ; 
for  Alexandria  was  the  theatre  whereon  the  op- 
pressive forces  of  a  corrupted  Christianity  had 
ample  play,  and  Providence  was  the  chosen  field 
where,  thirteen  centuries  afterward,  the  real 
Christianity  of  the  first  century  had  full  scope  to 


222  LIFE  NOTES. 

recruit  and  re-assert  itself  with  a  healthful  freedom 
entirely  unrestricted.  As  to  the  making  of  sin- 
cere converts,  the  Hypatia  of  the  fourth  century 
occupied  a  position  of  superior  opportunity,  on 
account  of  the  very  horribleness  of  that  nominally 
Christian  power  that  decreed  her  death.  The 
Hypatia  of  our  nineteenth  century,  on  the  other 
hand,  inherited  a  freedom  of  speech  and  action 
that  had  been  won  by  the  self-sacrifices  of  Chris- 
tian martyrs  and  heroes,  like  Roger  Williams, 
who  recognized  the  liberty  of  the  individual  mind 
and  conscience  as  an  essential  idea  of  the  Chris- 
tianity taught  by  Christ.  In  Providence,  instead 
of  repelling  or  avoiding  the  modern  Hypatia,  we 
welcomed  her  society,  invited  her  professional  or 
spontaneous  communications,  discussed  them  with 
perfect  freedom,  and  realized  the  benefit  of  "  prov- 
ing all  things,"  thus  "  having  our  senses  exercised 
to  discern  between  o^ood  and  evil." 


A    TIME   OF  ORGANIC  RECONSTKUCTIONS,      223 


xvr. 

A  TIME  0?  ORGAMC  RECONSTRUCTIONS. 
A   SECOND   TERM   OF   MINISTRY   IN   BOSTON. 

Our  three  years'  retrospective  view  of  the  course 
of  things  in  Providence,  from  1837  to  1840,  in- 
clusive, pertains  to  a  period  distinguished  by  a 
quickened  intellectual  life,  seeking  expression  in 
discussions  of  literary,  philosophical,  and  theo- 
logical, as  well  as  of  strictly  religious  questions. 
Fourteen  years  of  President  Wayland's  adminis- 
tration had  passed  away,  leaving  clear  signs  of  an 
educational  influence  that  had  gone  forth  from 
the  professional  chair,  the  pulpit,  the  platform,  the 
press,  and  had  been  felt  not  only  within  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  University,  but  also  indirectly  through- 
out a  widening  area  of  society.  The  higher  ideal 
of  intellectual  progress  then  uplifting  the  com- 
munity was  indicated  not  only  by  the  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  public-school  system,  but  also  by  the 
tendency  to  unite  in  literary  associations,  lyceums, 
or  club  gatherings  in  the  interest  of  personal  and 
social  culture.     This  aspect  of  the  time  imparted 


224  LIFE  NOTES. 

to  the  lively  little  capital  and  its  outlook  of  the 
future  a  fresh  and  growing  interest ;  so  that,  at 
the  opening  of  the  year  1840,  there  was  no  sign 
of  a  probability  that  on  my  part,  within  half  a 
year,  a  return  to  Boston  as  a  field  of  service  could 
be  thought  of. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  that  year,  however,  I 
received  a  communication  from  Mr.  Charles  D. 
Gould,  the  well-known  publisher,  the  junior  deacon 
of  the  Federal-street  Baptist  Church  of  Boston, 
informing  me  that  it  was  the  intention  of  that 
church,  at  its  approaching  monthly  meeting,  to 
offer  to  me  a  formal  call  to  the  vacant  pastorate, 
and  giving  his  reasons  for  hoping  that  I  would 
regard  it  favorably.  To  this  communication  I 
returned  an  answer  immediately,  affirming  that 
I  did  not  feel  myself  at  liberty  to  entertain  any 
proposal  looking  to  a  change  of  pastoral  relations, 
and  that,  as  the  rejection  of  the  call  would  do  no 
good  to  either  party,  but  rather  harm,  sound 
judgment  would  counsel  the  withholding  of  it. 
That  answer  I  supposed  would  be  final ;  ere  a 
fortnight  had  elapsed,  however,  a  committee  com- 
posed of  six  gentlemen,  for  every  one  of  whom  I 
had  long  cherished  the  most  sincere  respect,  came 
to  Providence  bearing  the  formal  call,  commending 
it  to  my  acceptance  by  a  frank  and  earnest  state- 
ment of  the  difficulties,  the  hopes  and  aspirations, 


A    TIME    OF  ORGANIC  RECONSTRUCTIONS.      22$ 

of  the  church  that  liad  sent  it.  They  set  forth 
clearly  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  sustaining  any 
ecclesiastical  position  in  Federal  Street  while  the 
invasions  of  trade  were  driving  family-life  away 
from  its  vicinity  ;  emphasizing  the  inevitable  loss 
of  membership  on  that  account,  and  the  prospect 
of  greater  loss  when  the  new  edifice  in  Bowdoin 
Square  should  become  the  church-home  of  a 
portion  of  the  remnant. 

The  mere  fact  of  a  visitation  by  such  a  com- 
mittee, presenting  itself  in  Providence  on  an 
errand  of  this  kind,  directly  in  the  face,  apparently, 
of  the  letter  I  had  addressed  to  their  deacon,  Avas 
a  surprise,  explainable  only  as  a  sacrifice  of  per- 
sonal pride  to  a  sense  of  duty,  appealing  to  the 
kindred  sentiment  of  another  in  the  recognition 
of  a  "  mutual  faith.*'  In  this  connection  of  events, 
moreover,  I  received  an  additional  communication 
from  Hon.  Richard  Fletcher,  expressing  his  belief, 
that,  if  this  call  were  declined,  the  church  would 
disband.  The  ideas  and  aims  set  forth  in  these 
communications,  oral  and  written,  commended 
themselves  as  unselfish  and  worthy  of  considerate 
review.  This  was  promised.  Erelong  the  possi- 
bilities of  resuscitation  and  progress,  of  the  rallying 
of  new  forces  sufficient  for  the  enterprise  of  con- 
structing a  new  church-home  within  an  environ- 
ment that  would  minister  to  growth  instead  of 


226  LIFE  NOTES. 

depletion,  seemed  quite  clear.  Awakened  memo- 
ries of  the  exceptionally  intimate  relations  of  this 
church  with  "the  Old  First"  at  a  certain  period 
of  my  ministering  to  it  when  the  neighboring 
pastor  of  Federal  Street,  Dr.  Howard  Malcom,  w^as 
seeking  health  in  Europe,  intensified  my  sympa- 
thetic hopes  of  seeing  a  restored  prosperity,  iden- 
tical, as  in  the  past,  with  a  world-wide  Christian 
work.  The  attempt  to  grapple  with  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  success  seemed  but  following  the  beck 
of  the  Divine  Master's  hand ;  thence,  as  the  result 
of  manifold  deliberation,  the  sense  of  duty  became 
imperative,  and  the  call  to  return  to  Boston  was 
accepted. 

CHARACTERIZATION   OF    THE  TIME. 

Having  noted  the  succession  of  three  years  pre- 
ceding 1840  as  pertaining  to  a  period  of  intellect- 
ual awakening  in  Providence,  we  are  led  in  this 
connection  to  designate  that  year,  and  the  three 
or  four  years  following,  an  era  of  intellectual 
awakening  in  Boston,  mainly  within  the  range  of 
theological  and  philosophical  inquiry.  That  period 
may  be  thus  indicated  in  view  of  the  elements  of 
thought  brought  into  play,  as  distinguished  from 
a  revival  simply  religious,  or  from  an  awakening 
of  intellectual  life  within  the  scope  of  science  and 
literature.     Parkerism  was  a  term  then  presenting 


A    TIME   OF  ORGANIC  RECONSTRUCTIONS.      22/ 

itself  in  common  talk  as  a  characterization  of  tlie 
time  in  one  of  its  phases.  In  days  gone  by  we 
had  been  wont  to  note  the  separate  areas  of  doc- 
trinal belief  as  Unitarianism,  Liberalism,  Ortho- 
doxy, or  Evangelical  Christianity.  Now,  however, 
Liberalism  was  agitated  by  a  perplexing  nnsettled- 
ness  of  ideas,  for  young  Theodore  Parker  was 
formulating  his  progressive  thought  as  the  leader 
of  that  increasing  class  who  were  leaving  Dr. 
Channing,  Andrews  Norton,  and  the  old  Unitarian 
school,  with  its  inherited  elements  of  supernatural- 
ism  and,  evidential  miracles,  far  behind ;  and,  in 
behalf  of  these  inquirers,  he  was  reasoniug  out 
inductively,  as  well  as  affirming  transcendentally, 
the  ethics  of  Nature.  The  contrast  was  quite 
sharp,  for  Parker  declared,  "  I  do  not  believe  there 
ever  was  a  miracle,  or  ever  will  be  ;  "  meaning  that 
no  change  of  Nature's  established  sequences  was 
ever  made  by  the  direct  action  of  any  spirit  will- 
power, human  or  divine. 

As  an  index  of  this  general  unsettledness  we 
may  refer  to  the  notice  given  forth  from  the 
pulpit  of  Dr.  Channing's  church  in  Federal  Street 
by  his  eloquent  colleague,  Dr.  Ezra  S.  Gannett, 
saying  that  for  twenty  years  the  Unitarian  pulpit 
had  left  doctrinal  discussion  mainly  to  the  press, 
and  that  thence  a  generation  had  grown  up  around 
it  not  knowing  what  to  believe  or  what  to  affirm 


228  LIFE   NOTES. 

as  the  distinguishing  ideas  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion ;  that,  to  meet  this  want,  he  would  deliver,  on 
successive  Sunday  evenings,  a  course  of  six  lec- 
tures on  "Christ  and  Christianity."  This  an- 
nouncement was  timely.  The  realm  of  Liberaldom 
was  moved  to  prompt  response ;  and,  from  first  to 
last,  the  aisles  and  galleries  were  filled  a  half-hour 
or  more  before  the  set  time  of  service  by  audiences 
drawn  from  the  city  and  its  surroundings.  The 
undertaking  was  thoroughly  unique,  novel,  excep- 
tional. The  first  discourse  of  the  series  —  meet- 
ing the  question,  "Who  was  Christ?"  —  occupied 
two  hours  ;  and,  strange  to  say,  instead  of  suggest- 
ing hints  of  weariness,  called  forth  admiration  of 
the  earnestness,  interpretative  clearness,  and  logi- 
cal power  of  the  preacher.  There  was  no  flagging 
of  interest  in  any  part  of  the  course ;  and  the  long 
sermon  was  vindicated  as  "a  thing  beautiful  in 
its  season,"  needed  just  then  to  meet  a  mental 
craving  of  twenty  years'  growth.  The  teaching 
throughout  was  argumentatively  expositional,  de- 
signed to  show  that  the  Unitarianism  represented 
by  the  school  of  Channing  voiced  truthfully  the 
meaning  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  The  whole 
course,  now  remembered  as  historic  fact,  indicated 
a  new  awakening  of  a  great  community,  that, 
having  ended  its  conflicts  for  individual  freedom 
from  the  bonds  of  ecclesiastical  traditionism   by 


A    TIME   OF  ORGANIC  RECONSTRUCTIONS.      229 

tlie  complete  separation  of  Church  and  State  in 
1834,  had  now  become  intent  upon  using  its  free- 
dom for  the  determining  of  fundamental  beliefs 
by  the  lights  of  revelation  and  of  reason. 

AN   EXCEPTIONAL   MOOD   OF   THE   PUBLIC   ISHND. 

At  the  time  of  Dr.  Gannett's  first  advertise- 
ment of  his  projected  series,  I  had  already  pre- 
2)ared  a  course  of  four  lectures  for  delivery  on 
successive  Sunday  evenings,  touching  the  same 
range  of  topics,  and  was  about  ready  to  announce 
the  fact  when  the  published  title  that  he  had 
chosen,  identical  with  my  own,  namely,  "Christ 
and  Christianity,"  drew  attention.  Holding  these 
lectures  in  reserve  until  the  Sunday  following 
the  close  of  his  course,  I  then  made  the  announce- 
ment of  my  projected  series,  in  connection  with 
the  statement  that  it  had  not  been  originated  as  a 
specialty,  in  answer  to  any  other  course  of  lec- 
tures, but  had  been  prepared  leisurely,  as  respon- 
sive to  the  calls  of  inquiring  minds  and  the 
questionings  of  the  time. 

Very  soon,  however,  it  was  quite  evident  that 
the  popular  series  just  now  completed  in  our 
neighborhood  had  happily  prepared  my  way;  for 
not  only  was  the  house,  even  the  aisles  and  gal- 
leries, filled  before  the  set  time  of  commencing 
the  service,  but  occupied  in  large  proportion  by  the 


230  LIFE  NOTES. 

same  audience.  It  was  an  inspiring  assemblage, 
a  marvellous  scene,  this  continuous  flowing  to- 
gether of  thinking  men,  social  and  denominational 
leaders,  mingling  with  younger  classes  of  earnest 
listeners,  all  alike  welcoming  the  most  free  and 
direct  discussion  of  the  central  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  like  of  it  had  never  before  been 
seen  in  Boston ;  and  it  has  been  truly  said,  perhaps, 
that  the  like  of  it  has  not  been  seen  since,  and 
may  never  occur  again.  The  incidental  talk  of 
the  streets  took  its  tone,  quite  notably,  from  the 
themes  of  the  pulpits,  exceptionally  free  from 
the  traditional  harshness  of  theological  controversy. 

DIFFUSION   OF   THE  SPIRIT   OF   INQUIRY. 

Mr.  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  in  one  of  his  letters 
to  Thomas  Carlyle  pertaining  to  this  first  decade 
of  his  own  career,  mentions  as  an  item  of  special 
interest  the  gathering  around  him  of  "young 
gentlemen  and  ladies  without  a  religion,  seeking 
a  new  one."  This  statement  is  noteworthy  as  in- 
dicating the  awakened  intellectuality  of  the  time. 
Others  might  have  given  like  reports  of  their 
surroundings  as  seen  from  their  own  stand-points. 
Dr.  Edward  N.  Kirk,  for  instance,  might  have 
spoken  of  the  many  thronging  to  listen  to  him 
Avhile  preaching  as  an  evangelist  in  Park-street 
Church,  and  afterward  at  the  commodious  church- 


A    TIME   OF  ORGANIC  RECONSTRUCTIONS.      23 1 

home  built  for  him  when  he  had  accepted  the 
proffered  pastorate  in  Boston.  So,  too,  Dr.  Alex- 
ander H.  Vinton,  the  able  expositor  of  Evangelical 
Christianity,  attracting  eager  listeners  from  all 
quarters,  might  have  written  thus  commemora- 
tively  of  this  period  of  his  ministry  as  rector  of 
St.  Paul's.  Thus,  moreover,  Dr.  Rollin  Heber 
Neale  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  and  Dr.  Baron 
Stow  of  the  Second,  each  being  then  in  his  prime 
and  "  at  his  best,"  might  have  summed  up  their 
ingatherings  in  figures  that  would  seem  like  notes 
of  harvest-songs.  And  thus,  also,  other  men, 
teachers  and  preachers  of  the  day,  like  the  patri- 
archal Dr.  Daniel  Sharp,  the  veteran  and  venerable 
leader  of  a  preceding  generation,  Dr.  Robert  W. 
Cushman  of  the  new  church  in  Bowdoin  Square, 
Dr.  Nathaniel  Colver  of  Tremont  Temple,  were 
they  now  living,  would  furnish,  each  for  himself, 
his  memorial  of  the  period  so  distinguished  by  that 
quickened  intellectuality  which,  on  the  one  hand, 
intensified  the  spirit  of  disbelief,  and  on  the  other 
hand  aroused  the  public  mind  to  more  profound 
thoughtfulness,  clarified  its  views  of  Christianity 
as  the  revelation  of  a  personal  Christ  to  the  indi- 
vidual soul,  and  thus  led  multitudes,  by  a  faith  re- 
sponsive to  '^the  Word,"  into  that  consciousness  of 
a  personal  relation  to  Him  which  is  itself  redemp- 
tive power,  self-witnessing  life,  and  enduring  peace. 


232  LIFE  NOTES. 


XVII. 

THE  AREA  OF  DISCUSSION  WIDENINa. 
AIMING   AT   POSITIVE    FAITH   AND   UNITY. 

In  our  retrospective  view  of  the  lialf-century, 
the  year  1840  has  loomed  up  as  signalizing  an  era 
of  intellectual  awakening,  exceptionally  trending 
toward  philosophical  and  religious  inquiry.  This 
mental  quickening  was  exceptional  as  being  at 
once  so  pervasive,  transcending  denominational 
lines,  circles,  sets,  or  cliques ;  so  that  everywhere 
we  were  in  the  way  of  meeting  faces  that  seemed 
to  betray  a  consciousness  of  new  moods  of  mind 
that  might  fitly  utter  themselves  as  "  confessions 
of  an  inquiring  spirit."  From  his  pulpit  as  a  cen- 
tral stand-point,  Dr.  Gannett  had  aptly  reported 
his  own  outlook  when  he  said  that  "  a  generation 
had  grown  up  around  the  pulpits  not  knowing 
what  to  believe ; "  thus,  while  there  had  been  no 
lack  of  emphasis  as  to  what  not  to  believe,  all  now 
recognized  the  heart-cry  for  a  positive  faith. 

In  accordance  with  the  view  of  Dr.  Gannett 
was  that  of  Dr.  James  Freeman  Clarke,  who,  hav- 


THE   AREA    OF  DISCUSSION   WIDENING.      233 

ing  graduated  from  the  Harvard  Divinity  School 
in  1833,  and  fulfilled  a  seven  years'  course  of  ser- 
vice as  minister  of  the  Unitarian  church  in  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  returned  to  Boston  in  1840,  intent  upon 
emphasizing  the  idea  that  a  religion  of  negatives, 
with  its  relatively  destructive  criticism,  must  lack 
permanent  force,  and  thence  drew  around  him  a 
congenial  society  whose  defined  aim,  as  seekers 
after  a  positive  belief  under  his  leadership,  was 
expressed  by  their  chosen  designation,  — "  The 
Church  of  the  Disciples."  The  special  aim  of  Dr. 
Clarke  was  the  conciliation  of  Christian  beliefs  so 
as  to  lay  a  broad  basis  for  organic  unity,  —  an  aim 
whose  scope  and  method  is  suggested  by  the  title 
of  one  of  his  later  works  (1866),  "  Orthodoxy,  its 
Truths  and  Errors."  Confident,  as  he  was,  that 
in  all  the  creeds  of  those  who  differed  from  him 
there  were  some  truths  upon  which  they  could 
unite,  he  knew  how  to  make  the  most  of  this  com- 
mon ground,  and  enlarge  its  area  so  as  to  reduce 
the  points  of  difference  to  a  minimum.  Thus,  ere- 
long, cultured  persons  of  unsettled  mind  were 
gathered  around  his  uplifted  banner  of  a  "common 
faith,"  united  in  the  hope  of  realizing  a  higher 
ideal  of  Church-life,  unifying  at  once  the  elements 
of  conservatism  and  progress.^ 

1  See  Appendices,  page  329. 


234  LIFE  NOTES. 


DRIFTINGS   TO   NEW   ISSUES. 

Against  the  realization  of  these  hopes,  however, 
there  were  subtle  influences  in  free  play ;  at  first, 
perhaps,  scarcely  discernible  as  tendencies.^  but  as- 
serting themselves  at  last  as  logical  results.  These 
disintegrating  influences  proceeded  from  two  rec- 
ognizable sources,  —  the  lecture  platform  of  Ralph 
Waldo  Emerson  and  the  pulpit  of  Theodore  Par- 
ker :  differing,  indeed,  as  to  their  way  of  working, 
but  coalescing  in  one  issue  ;  namely,  the  drifting 
away  of  youthful  inquirers  from  all  the  attractions 
of  Church-life  to  the  vague  affinities  of  instinc- 
tively inspired  individualism,  as  indicated  by  the 
movement  of  the  Free  Religious  Association.  Of 
that  movement  Mr.  Emerson  was  an  acknowledged 
leader ;  and  its  characterizing  thought  was  ex- 
pressed by  him  in  his  address  before  that  young 
association  when  he  said,  "  I  think  the  necessity 
very  great  that  invites  all  classes,  all  religious  men, 
whatever  their  connections,  whatever  their  spe- 
cialties, in  whatever  relation-s  they  stand  to  Chris- 
tianity, to  unite  in  a  movement  of  benefit  to  men, 
under  the  sanctions  of  religion."  He  then  went 
on  to  speak  of  all  churches  in  the  aggregate,  of  all 
creeds  and  theologies,  as  outgrown,  and  unsuited 
to  the  needs  of  our  progressive  humanity.  Thus, 
after  a  lapse  of  forty  years,  Mr.  Emerson's  "de- 


THE  AREA    OF  DISCUSSION   WIDENING.      235 

part  lire  "  from  organized  Unitarianism,  as  being 
already  outgrown,  has  culminated  in  a  new  Free 
Association,  without  any  distinctively  religious 
ideas  whatsoever,  sharply  antagonizing  the  ideal 
conservatism  of  Dr.  Clarke  and  the  spirit  of  Disci- 
pleship  which  the  new  Church  organism  had  so 
eloquently  voiced  as  the  harbinger  of  a  unified 
Christendom. 

GOOD   FRUITAGE  GARNERED. 

The  intellectual  movement,  indicated  by  the  free 
discussion  of  fundamental  ideas,  proved  favorable 
in  a  high  degree  just  then  to  the  progress  of  evan- 
gelical Christianity,  touching  and  quickening  as 
it  did  the  moral  and  spiritual  element  throughout 
the  whole  community.  A  fresh  spirit  of  inquiry 
seemed  to  be  pervading  all  classes,  more  or  less 
simultaneously,  like  tidal  waves  of  the  moral  at- 
mosphere, uplifting  all  to  a  higher  plane  of  thought 
and  feeling.  Religious  or  semi-religious  topics  of 
conversation  were  "in  place"  everywhere,  one 
might  say;  asserting  themselves  "in  season,  out  of 
season,"  often  when  least  expected,  a  wayside 
surprise.  Thus,  as  I  now  remember,  passing  near 
the  ship-yards  one  day,  about  eleven  o'clock,  a 
workingman  hastily  stepped  forth,  crossed  the 
street,  and  then,  having  asked  the  favor  of  a 
minute's  talk,  earnestly  put  his  question   ^s  one 


236  LIFE   NOTES. 

"  meaning  business,"  —  "  Sir,  what  is  Transcenden- 
talism?" The  difference  between  this  condition 
of  the  public  mind  and  that  of  the  period  that 
preceded  it,  was  as  clearly  marked  as  the  difference 
noted  by  the  Evangelist  Luke  in  the  Book  of 
Acts,  between  the  mental  tone  of  the  Bereans  and 
the  Thessalonians ;  the  former  being  "more  noble" 
than  the  latter,  distinguished  by  a  ^inrit  of  inquiry 
that  passed  beyond  traditional  limits,  and  sought 
truth  at  the  f(nintain-head. 

In  all  Sunday  services,  and  in  church  assem- 
blages generally,  this  same  spirit  found  expression. 
Never  had  we  seen  such  free  intermingling  of 
thinkers  and  workers  of  all  classes  around  the 
pulpits  of  those  who  could  say  heartily,  "  We  be- 
lieve, and  therefore  speak."  Despite  all  inherited 
antipathies,  an  earnest  teaclier  would  attract  lis- 
teners who  were  keenly  appreciative  of  a  profound 
conviction.  In  recalling  the  memories  of  personal 
observation  pertaining  to  the  time,  I  am  impressed 
with  the  thouo-ht  that  no  sermons  seemed  to  be  so 
effective  with  this  inquiring  class  as  those  that 
aimed  to  distinguish  between  Christianity  as  an 
orthodoxy  or  accepted  formulation  of  a  creed,  and 
the  Christianity  of  Christ  set  forth  in  the  New 
Testament,  verified  by  facts  of  history  and  experi- 
ence, appealing  to  the  reason,  the  conscience,  and 
the  heart  at  once  as  the  voice  of  absolute  truth. 


THE   AREA    OF  DISCUSSION    WIDENING.      237 

Tlins,  within  tlie  range  of  my  own  ministry  m 
Federal  Street  the  inquiring  spirit  of  the  time 
was  most  quickly  responsive  to  the  services  that 
combined  most  closely  the  expositional  and  the 
practical.  For  special  discourses  in  this  line  of 
direction,  there  was  always  the  encouragement 
of  a  welcome,  and  the  cheer  of  responsive  listen- 
ers in  their  testimonies  of  a  renewed  inner  life. 
Hence,  erelong,  the  outlook  of  our  future  as  a 
church  enkindled  the  zeal  of  the  people  for  a 
speedy  movement  towards  the  removal  and  re- 
establishment  of  a  church-home  at  a  central  point, 
amid  the  surroundings  of  family-life,  such  as  the 
invasions  of  trade  had  been  driving  away  from  our 
neighborhood.  The  financial  questioning  w^is  no 
longer  an  occasion  of  extreme  anxiety.  Before 
the  close  of  1843  they  were  thoroughly  united  in 
the  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  time  for  that 
step  of  advance  had  already  come. 

A  SPIRITUAL  UPLIFTING. 

Nevertheless,  there  was  no  hurried  movement. 
Few,  if  any,  were  impatient  of  delays;  inclined, 
rather,  to  "make  haste  slowdy."  Around  that 
church-edifice  loving  memories  clustered.  Its 
history  seemed,  hideed,  too  brief.  In  1827  it  was 
dedicated  to  divine  service  as  the  home-centre  of 
worshippers  who  had  already  been  hailed  and  wel- 


238  LIFE  NOTES. 

corned  by  the  denominational  brotherhood  as  the 
Fifth  Baptist  Church  of  Boston,  —  a  church  whose 
annals  throughout  an  entire  decade  are  invested 
with  a  certain  historic  interest  as  a  continuous 
record  of  missionary  co-operation,  and  whose  har- 
vests have  been  garnered  not  only  from  the  city 
surroundings,  but  also  from  the  distant  fields  of 
heathendom.  From  the  beginning  it  had  kept 
itself  in  communication  with  its  representative 
workers  in  fcu'eign  fields.  For  a  succession  of  years 
its  senior  deacon,  Hon.  Ileman  Lincohi,  was  the 
faithful  treasurer  of  the  Missionary  Union  ;  and 
the  two  volumes  of  "Travels  in  South-eastern 
Asia,"  written  by  its  first  pastor,  Rev.  Dr.  Howard 
Malcom,  long  after  his  loss  of  vocal  power  had 
occasioned  the  resignation  of  his  charge  (issued 
by  a  publishing  firm  within  its  own  membership, 
Gould,  Kendall,  &  Lincoln,  1839),  still  remain  as 
reminders  of  the  joyous  missionary  spirit  that 
permeated  the  Federal-street  Church  in  its  early 
days,  still  rendering  its  name  a  cherished  memorial, 
and  thus  a  factor  still  in  Christian  work.  Yet, 
despite  the  strength  of  local  attachments  and 
memories,  the  resuscitation  of  spiritual  power  in 
connection  with  the  ingatherings  of  successive 
years  following  1844,  uplifted  the  mind  of  the 
church  to  a  higher  plane  than  that  of  past  or  pres- 
ent, concentrating  its  thought  upon  the  outlook 


THE   AREA    OF  DISCUSSION   WIDENING.      239 

of  the  widening  future,  and  forecasting  the  welfare 
of  ''  the  generations  to  come "  as  the  supreme 
interest. 


The  unity  of  spirit  and  of  aim  thus  produced 
soon  found  expression  in  the  purchase  of  a  cen- 
tral site  (on  the  corner  of  Rowe  and  Bedford 
Streets,  near  the  S2)ot  chosen  for  the  erection  of 
a  uew  edifice  for  the  Latin  and  High  Schools), 
in  the  election  of  a  building  committee,  and  in 
arrangements  for  our  sabbath  services  throughout 
the  interval  of  our  pilgrimage  from  the  old  home 
to  the  new.  During  the  greater  part  of  that  in- 
terval we  occupied  the  "  Melodeon "  on  Sunday 
afternoons,  and  were  obliged  to  content  ourselves 
with  one  sermon  for  the  day,  as  the  place  had  been 
pre-engaged  to  the  society  of  Theodore  Parker  for 
his  morning  services.  In  regard  to  the  occupancy 
of  the  morning,  however,  we  were  highly  favored, 
as  the  rector  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Rev.  Dr.  Alex- 
ander H.  Vinton,  placed  the  chapel  in  the  rear  of 
the  beautiful  sanctuary  on  Tremont  Street  at  my 
command  for  the  gathering  of  a  Bible  class.  The 
class  filled  the  chapel,  and  we  designated  our 
exercise  "the  Synagogue  Service,"  thus  hinting 
its  accordance  with  the  manner  of  the  synagogue 
in  the  time  of  Christ,  where,  after  the  reading  of 


240  LIFE   NOTES. 

the  Scriptures  and  the  commenting  thereon,  any 
one  present  was  at  liberty  to  make  inquiries  of  the 
speaker,  or  ask  further  exphmations.  The  interest 
in  that  service  deepened  from  week  to  week. 
Thus,  while  Mr.  Parker  was  occupying  the  Melo- 
deon  in  the  morning,  our  lively  synagogue  service 
was  in  process  at  St.  Paul's  Chapel ;  and  while  I 
was  occupying  the  Melodeon  in  the  afternoon,  Mr. 
Parker  was  concentrating  all  the  forces  of  his 
thinking  in  the  teaching  of  his  Bible  class  in  a 
room  under  the  same  roof.  Although  thus  made 
neighbors  in  the  strictest  sense  of  that  word,  none 
would  have  suspected  either  of  attempting  to 
manipulate  theological  formulations  in  order  to 
reach  a  common  ground  upon  which  we  could 
stand  together  in  religious  unity.  If  the  walls  of 
the  auditorium  could  have  reported  the  Sunday 
sermons,  it  would  have  appeared  that  those  of  the 
morning  always  taught,  directly  or  impliedly,  the 
trustworthijiess  of  man's  intuition  for  apprehend- 
ing all  the  truth  required  by  his  spiritual  needs, 
while  those  of  the  afternoon  affirmed,  directly  or 
impliedly,  the  utter  insufficiency  of  that  intuitional 
knowledge  without  the  aid  of  additional  truth,  as 
supernaturally  revealed  in  the  person  of  the  Christ, 
the  Son  of  the  living  God. 


THE  AREA    OF  DISCUSSION   WIDENING.      24I 
BUILDING   BETTER   THAN   WE   KNEW. 

In  due  time  the  last  sermon  was  delivered  in 
the  church-edifice  of  Federal  Street,  greeted  by 
mingled  smiles  and  tears,  suggestive  of  the  hopes 
and  memories  of  the  young  and  the  old,  remind- 
ing us  of  the  scene  described  in  the  Book  of  Ezra 
(iii.  12,  13),  where  parents  and  children  were   so 
deeply  moved  by  rehearsals  of  the  past  and  the 
prophecies  of  a  hopeful  future  while  they  stood 
together  upon  the  site  of  the  old  Temple.     The 
laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  our  new  edifice   at- 
tracted a  large  assembly,  who  united  in  the  ser- 
vices of  prayer  and  song ;   and  the  address  of  the 
occasion  was  in  part  a  vindication  of  the  chosen 
style  of  architecture,  —  the  pointed,  or  Gothic,  — 
affirming  that,  instead  of  its  being,  as  some  had 
said,  a  sign  of  retrogressive  sympathy  with  medi- 
aeval tastes,  the  like  of  which  had  not  as  yet  been 
seen  in  Boston,  it  was,  on  the  other  hand,  a  sug- 
gestion of  nature  by  means  of  the  beautiful  tem- 
ples formed  along  the  arched  ways  of  the  forest 
as  well  as  in   the  stony  grottoes  "  wrought  in  the 
deep   places   of  the    earth."     The    structure   was 
completed  satisfactorily,  and  dedicated  with  appro- 
priate services ;  the  announcement  of  entire  free- 
dom from  financial  anxiety  imparting  a  special  zest 
to  our  songs  of  thanksgiving. 


242  LIFE  NOTES. 

To-day,  however,  I  am  reminded,  while  writing 
these  lines,  that  upon  that  chosen  site  no  sign  of 
such  a  structure  is  seen,  and  that  the  last  memo- 
rial of  it  was  swept  away  by  the  rush  of  trade  a 
decade  and  a  half  ago.  To  none  of  us  was  the 
faculty  of  forecast  given  in  large  measure,  intent 
as  we  were  upon  meeting  the  architectural  tastes 
and  needs  of  those  who  should  live  after  us,  even 
"unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation."  Plow 
short-sighted  we  were  I  Nevertheless,  ''  w^e  builded 
better  than  Ave  knew."  While  old  North  End 
was  fast  passing  away,  and  South  End  was  yet 
"  without  form  and  void,"  this  church  was  fulfill- 
ing a  twenty  year's  special  mission  in  providing 
a  home-centre  for  scores  of  young  households  that 
would  have  been  exposed  to  the  danger  of  drifting 
away  into  a  state  of  religious  and  social  disinte- 
gration. Happily,  when,  near  the  close  of  my 
seven  years'  ministry  as  pastor  of  "•  the  Federal- 
street  Church,"  another  sphere  of  service  claimed 
and  won  my  sympathetic  regards,  the  Rev.  Baron 
Stow,  D.D.,  fully  restored  to  the  enjoyment  of 
health  after  long  confinement  by  sickness,  was 
quite  ready  to  accept  an  invitation  to  the  pastoral 
care  of  that  church,  then  settled  in  its  new  Rowe- 
street  home.  Regarded  from  his  point  of  view, 
the  outlook  seemed  hopeful;  his  personal  expe- 
riences  in   relation   to    his   surroundings   seemed 


THE  AREA    OF  DISCUSSION   WIDENING.      243 

suggestive  of  a  guiding  Providence.  Thus  lie 
entered  upon  his  new  field  as  one  who  had  re- 
newed his  youth  like  the  eagle's,  and  then  left  a 
record  of  twenty  years*  effective  service  worthy  of 
his  whole  past.  The  pulpit  of  Rowe  Street  was 
never  occupied  by  a  successor,  and  the  history  of 
that  beautiful  church-edifice  virtually  ended  with 
that  of  his  nnnistry.  The  church  itself,  however, 
now  far  and  widely  known  as  the  Clarendon- 
street  Baptist  Church  of  Boston,  under  the  min- 
istry of  Bev.  Dr.  A.  J.  Gordon,  still  lives  and 
thrives,  progressing  "  from  strength  to  strength  ;  " 
cherishing  the  same  simplicity  of  loving  faith  that 
was  the  very  life  and  inspiration  of  its  youth. 


244  ^^^^  NOTES. 


XVIII. 

STRENaTH  PROM  UNIFICATION. 
EDITORSHIP. 

Not  long  after  the  public  services  appropriate 
to  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  church- 
edifice  in  Rowe  Street  (corner  of  Bedford),  I 
chanced  to  meet,  one  morning,  not  far  from  Bos- 
ton Common,  a  venerable  friend,  who  seemed  to 
have  diverged  from  his  path  in  order  to  greet  me 
with  a  special  message  ;  namely,  this :  "  I  learn  that 
the  editorship  of  '  The  Christian  Watchman  ■  has 
been  urged  upon  your  acceptance,  in  official  asso- 
ciation with  our  friend  Dr.  Olmstead,  and  that 
thus  you  may  be  impliedly  bound  to  furnish  articles 
every  week,  for  which  you  would  be  editorially 
responsible.  Beware !  You  are  already  well 
laden  with  official  obligations  ;  and  now,  remem- 
bering that  'it  is  the  last  ounce  that  breaks  the 
camel's  back,'  I  trust  that  you  will  regard  your 
healtli  as  a  prime  consideration,  and  avoid  every 
additional  risk  of  a  break-down." 

To  my  esteemed  friend  I  at  once  acknowledged 


STRENGTH  FROM  UNIFICATION.  245 

that  his  position  was  well  taken ;  that  the  attempt 
to  combine  in  an  effective  unity  the  cliarge  of  a 
city  pastorate,  embracing  the   pulpit,  the   church, 
and  the  parish,  with  a   continuous  editorial  care, 
was  quite  objectionable.     Nevertheless,  I  said,  it 
was  not  on  my  part  an  attempt,  but  rather  the 
recognition  of  a  "  providential  call "  that  asserted 
itself  with   an  imperial  authority.     "How  so?" 
my  friend  inquired.     "  Let  me  see  the  matter  from 
your  own  point  of  view."     In  the  course  of  a  few 
minutes'  talk  I  noted  the  history  of  "The  Christian 
Watchman,"  the  oldest   religious  weekly  of  the 
country,  excepting  then  "  The  Boston  Recorder  ;  " 
its  honorable  association  with  the  names  of  Wes- 
ton  and   Loring,   welcomed    more    than    a    half- 
century   ago    as   an    accepted    exponent    of    the 
Baptist  sentiment  of  the  United  States,  reflecting 
the  past  and  forecasting  the  future  ;  then,  in  later 
years,  the  rise  of  partyism  caused  by  the  slavery 
question,      asserting     itself     antagonistically     as 
conservatism   or   radicalism,   and   issuing   in    the 
establishment   here    of  a   new   exponent   voicing 
the    new   era,    and    designated     "The    Christian 
Reflector."     The  time  had  now  arrived,  however, 
when  free    discussion   of  fundamental   principles 
had   produced,    comparatively  and   practically,  a 
oneness  of  opinion,  and  that  this  unity  now  sought 
expression  in  the  uniting  of  the  "Watchman  "and 


246  LIFE  NOTES. 

"  Reflector "  as  an  exponent  of  one  prevailing 
sentiment  and  an  advocate  of  the  common  cause. 
I  mentioned  also  that  Mr.  Ford  (now  more  widely 
known  as  proprietor  and  publisher  of  "  The  Youth's 
Companion  " )  had  brought  to  me  the  proposal 
of  editorship,  urging,  as  an  argument  for  my  ac- 
ceptance, that  I  had  already  written  occasionally 
in  both  papers,  and  had  already  empliasized  the 
main  ideas  which  all  desired  to  see,  just  then,  per- 
severingly  sustained.  In  view^  of  these  and  like 
considerations,  1  had  already  concluded  to  accept 
the  position,  not  as  forecast  by  myself,  but  as  one 
to  which  I  had  been  "  called  "  by  a  voice  that  had 
spoken  in  both  "  society  and  solitude  "  as  a  voice 
of  authority. 

THE  WOEK  OF  THE  PULPIT  AND  PRESS  UNIFIED. 

In  relation  to  the  end  proposed,  the  situation 
was  favorable.  All  eyes  were  turned  in  one  direc- 
tion ;  namely,  toward  Congress,  and  especially  to 
the  prudential  coricession  made  to  the  policy  of  the 
slave  power  by  Mr.  Webster  in  his  speech  of 
March  7,  1850.  Then,  immediately,  "conserva- 
tives" and  "radicals"  alike  united  in  affirming, 
that,  for  once  in  his  life  at  least,  our  great  leader 
had  spoken  as  a  politician  rather  than  as  a  states- 
man ;  had  failed  to  discern  the  predominance  of 
the  moral  element,  in  the  long  run,  over  all  anti- 


STRENGTH  FROM  UNIFICATION.  247 

tlietic  expediencies  in  shaping  the  course  of  human 
liistory.  As  to  our  own  outlook,  believing  in  the 
reality  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom  as  a  reconstruc- 
tive force  upon  this  planet,  ever  advancing, 
despite  delays,  to  work  out  its  own  ideals,  I  was 
never  troubled  with  a  moment's  doubt  touching 
the  destmed  issue.  An  editorial  article  in  "The 
Watchman  and  Reflector,"  entitled  "  God  and 
the  Constitution,"  called  forth  responses  from 
leading  men  far  beyond  all  sectional  lines,  and 
strengthened  my  faith  in  the  alliance  of  the  pulpit 
and  the  press  as  an  urgent  demand  of  the  common 
cause.  My  association  with  Dr.  Olmstead  was 
particularly  welcomed,  assured  as  I  Avas  that  his 
tastes,  habits,  and  trusted  oversight  in  relation  to 
the  whole  range  of  office-work  would  render  me 
quite  free  from  care  touching  every  point  of 
deliberation  beyond  my  one  sphere  of  service. 

HOME   AND   CHURCH   LIFE   AT   JAMAICA   PLAIN. 

Every  week  furnished  fresh  occasion  for  arti- 
cles of  widening  and  deepening  interest  pertaining 
to  the  time,  treated  persistently  in  the  editorial 
columns,  in  connection  with  my  ministry  in  Bos- 
ton, without  any  intermission  for  winter  or  summer 
rest,  and  without  the  slightest  sense  of  additional 
suffering  from  fatigue.  At  that  period  my  in- 
creasing appreciation  of  my  twofold  work  forbade 


248  LIFE   NOTES. 

all  feeling  of  weariDcss.  Before  the  close  of  the 
second  year,  however,  a  considerable  group  of 
friends  and  co-workers  liad  built  their  pleasant 
suburban  homes  at  Jamaica  Plain,  and  had  been 
active,  also,  as  co-workers  with  the  young  Baptist 
church  that  had  already  sprung  up  almost  sponta- 
neously, as  if  in  full  faith  of  their  coming,  and 
intent  upon  preparing  their  Avay.  A  new  house 
of  worship,  in  keeping  with  its  surroundings,  Iiad 
been  built,  and  within  its  walls  the  Rev.  John 
O.  Choules,  D.D.,  had  ministered  several  years. 
After  his  resignation  he  returned  to  Newport,  R.I.^ 
The  pulpit  having  been  vacated  about  the  time  I 
have  been  noting,  the  church  at  Jamaica  Plain 
urged  several  reasons  in  favor  of  my  accepting  a 
home  at  the  Plain  as  their  minister,  combining 
under  more  advantageous  conditions  the  pastoral 
care  and  the  editorial  work.  They  were  so  thor- 
oughly in  sympathy  with  my  twofold  aim,  so  unan- 
imous in  pronouncing  both  departments  of  my 
work  at  that  period  a  real  unity,  so  generously 
anxious  to  see  it  carried  forward  under  the  most 
hopeful  circumstances,  that  their  statements  seemed 
self-evincing,  and  their  way  of  ''  putting  things " 
quite  incontrovertible.  Chief  among  these  was 
James  W.  Converse,  Esq.,  who  is,  even  now,  en- 
joying a  half-century's  retrospect  over  an  area 
of  manifold  business-life,  contemporaneously  with 

1  See  Appendices,  page  331. 


STRENGTH  FROM   UNIFICATION:  249 

various  forms  of  Christian  service,  —  deaconsliips, 
trusteeships,  and  committeeships, — trusted  univer- 
sally for  wise  counselling  and  effective  action. 

My  life  at  Jamaica  Plain  was  comparatively  a 
recreation,  and  is  still  a  delightful  memory.  It 
had  always  seemed  to  me,  even  from  my  seminary 
years  at  New^ton,  like  "  an  Eden  of  a  place,"  as  a 
lady  once  expressed  it ;  the  lovely  lake  and  its  sur- 
roundings being  to  her  sight  and  feeling  "  the  per- 
fection of  beauty."  During  those  early  student 
days,  there  was  only  one  church  upon  the  Plain, 
and  that  the  one  originally  established  by  the  early 
Puritans ;  but  by  tidal  driftings  the  ecclesiastical 
organism  had  taken  on  a  form  of  parochial  liberal- 
ism strongly  contrasted  with  the  definiteness  of 
old  Puritanism,  regarding  Christianity  more  as  a 
natural  development  than  as  a  revelation  of  super- 
natural facts  and  forces.  In  my  trips  from  New- 
ton to  Boston  I  was  wont  to  take  a  roundabout 
way  for  the  pleasure  of  pedestrianizing  over  this 
Eden-like  Plain ;  occasionally  musing  in  a  kind  of 
dreamy  questioning  whether  I  should  live  to  see 
there  a  new  church  organism,  representative  of 
the  renaissance  cf  the  evangelical  element.  De- 
spite all  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lyman 
Beecher's  career  of  Orthodox  resuscitations  in 
Eastern  Massachusetts,  the  Congregationalists  had 
as  yet  done  nothing  here  in  that  line  of  direction. 


250  LIFE  NOTES. 

Nevertheless,  at  the  period  I  am  now  noting,  I  had 
been  welcomed  as  the  pastor  of  a  Baptist  church 
gathered  at  the  centre  of  that  lovely  Plain,  minis- 
tering to  a  people  all  alive  with  the  hope  and  faith 
of  a  progressive  future.  Every  successive  month 
brought  accessions  of  fresh  strength  to  this  pro- 
phetic feeling. 

SIGNIFICANCE  OF   THE   CALL  TO   NEWAEK. 

How  shall  I  account  for  any  williiigness  on 
my  part  to  leave,  after  a  brief  two  years'  ministry, 
a  home  invested  with  such  associations?  The 
cherished  retrospective  view  naturally  suggests  a 
self-questioning  like  that.  Indeed,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  that  was  the  very  question  put  with  the  em- 
phasis of  a  fatherly  earnestness  by  the  Rev.  Daniel 
Sharp,  D.D.,  when  he  remonstrated  most  tenderly, 
at  his  house  in  Boston,  against  my  entertaining 
the  consideration  of  a  call  from  a  young  church 
composed  of  thirtj'-nine  persons,  bearing  letters 
from  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Newark,  N.J., 
gathered  in  the  parlor  of  Joseph  Battin,  Esq.,  with 
the  view  of  taking  measures  for  the  erection  of  a 
new  church-home  in  Kinney  Street,  in  the  south- 
ern section  of  Newark,  the  growing  metropolis  of 
the  State.  "I  cannot  see,"  said  he,  "any  sound 
reasons  whereby  you  can  vindicate  satisfactorily 
such  a  change  of  relations  at  this  time."     To  this 


STREXGTH  FROM   UiV/F/CAT/OiV.  25  I 

remoDstrance  I  replied,  "Doctor,  it  is  my  desire 
that  I  should  not  take  a  single  step  in  tins  direc- 
tion that  you  would  not  approve  cordially,  after  a 
full  survey  of  the  whole  case.  Thence  I  would  ask 
you  to  remember  that  it  is  now  nearly  forty  years 
since  you  were  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church 
in  Newark,  having  resigned  that  charge,  in  order 
to  take  your  present  position,  in  1812,  at  the 
breaking-out  of  the  war  with  England;  and  that 
from  that  time  to  this  day  there  has  not  stood 
forth  above  the  ground  a  single  shred  of  any  kind 
of  structure  indicating  a  step  of  advance  on  the 
part  of  the  people  to  whom  you  ministered,  or  of 
the  ideas  that  you  represented.  The  first  recog- 
nizable sign  of  progress  is  this  church  organiza- 
tion of  thirty-nine  persons,  led  by  such  efficient 
men  as  Daniel  M.  Wilson  and  John  ]M.  Davies, 
for  the  building  of  a  new  house  of  worship  in  the 
rapidly  expanding  southern  section  of  a  city  that 
is  now  like  an  American  Birmingham,  attracting 
the  best  elements  of  American  mind  in  material 
production.  They  turn  now  to  me  for  special 
services,  as  one  familiar  from  days  of  early  youth 
with  '  the  situation,'  and  thence  in  sympathy  with 
their  aims.  With  lifelong  memories  thus  revived, 
put  yourself  in  my  place.  Doctor.  Imagining  that 
you  were  forty  years  younger  than  you  are,  wotdd 
you  refuse  to  listen  to  them  ?  "     For  a  minute  or 


252  LIFE  NOTES. 

SO  the  Doctor  seemed  to  be  musing  over  the  facts, 
and  then  said,  "  Well,  your  relation  to  the  case  is 
peculiar,  and  I  do  not  wonder  that  their  appeal 
has  deeply  moved  you.  I  recall  my  remonstrance, 
and  pray  God  to  guide  you,  whatsoever  your  de- 
cision may  be." 

Erelong  the  call  was  accepted.  I  began  my 
ministry  in  Newark  m  the  basement  lecture- 
room  (on  a  rainy  April  morning,  1850),  filled  with 
a  sympathetic  audience,  whose  presence  was  an 
inspiration  of  hope,  and  thus  interpreted  as  a 
prophecy  of  success.  Three  months  afterward  the 
church-edihce  was  completed,  and  was  dedicated 
on  Thursday  afternoon,  July  18,  1850,  amid  bright- 
ening signs  of  progress.  Of  these  signs,  however, 
the  brightest  was  the  awakening  of  an  earnest 
spirit  of  religious  inquir}^  comprising  within  its 
scope  the  young  and  the  old  alike.  The  announce- 
ment of  an  evening  course  of  twelve  lectures  on 
''  Home-Life,  its  Relations  and  Duties,"  attracted 
the  attention  of  all  classes  alike,  and  soon  brought 
usin  to  widening  relations  of  social  sympathy  with 
the  whole  community. 


PRINCIPLES   OF  CHURCH-GROWTH.         253 


XIX. 

PRINCIPLES  OF  CHURCH-aHOWTff. 
EKA  OF   CHURCH-EXTENSION   IN  NEAVAEK. 

During  the  spring  of  the  year  1850,  ah-eady 
noted  as  the  begmning  of  my  ministry  in  Newark, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  E.  E.  Cummings,  formerly  of  Con- 
cord, N.H.,  occupied  the  pastorate  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church  of  Newark ;  the  call  having  been 
then  but  recently  accepted.  He  was  known  and 
honored  as  a  man  of  "  an  excellent  spirit,"  whose 
field  of  service,  through  a  long  life-course,  had 
ever  abounded  in  memorials  of  effective  work. 
It  was  an  occasion  of  regret  to  many  that  he  felt 
himself  constrained  by  sanitary  reasons  to  resign 
his  charge,  and  return  to  New  England.  The 
vacating  of  that  pulpit  was  felt  by  us  all  alike  as 
an  embarrassment ;  for  in  spirit  and  in  practical 
aims  the  two  churches  were  identical,  —  a  unity 
that  was,  in  a  degree,  illustrated  by  the  fact  that 
Daniel  M.  Wilson,  so  trusted  as  a  leader,  was  at 
the  same  time  a  deacon  of  the  one  church  and  a 
trustee  of  the  other,  and  thus  "  a  living  presence  " 


254  LIFE   NOTES. 

in  both.  The  preservation  of  this  unity  was,  in- 
deed, an  essential  element  of  all  onr  calcnlations 
as  to  a  progressive  future ;  and  these,  evidently, 
might  be  baffled  or  hindered  in  case  the  pastor  of 
the  First  Church  should  prove  to  be  unai)precia- 
tive  of  them,  or  of  uncongenial  tone.  Hence  the 
supplying  of  that  vacancy  was,  exceptionally,  a 
matter  of  common  interest,  even  to  a  degree  that 
might  never  afterwards  recur :  for,  in  accordance 
with  ideas  already  talked  over  among  us,  all  the 
members  of  that  young  South  Church,  while  in- 
tent upon  their  own  home-work,  were  united  in 
the  desire  to  concentrate  the  available  forces  of 
both,  the  First  and  the  Second,  the  mother  and 
the  daughter  church,  in  the  planting  of  a  mission 
in  one  of  the  growing  neighborhoods,  with  the 
hope  of  seeing  it  soon  able  to  take  rank  as  the 
Third  Baptist  Church  of  Newark ;  thus  actualiz- 
ing at  once  a  principle  of  church-extension  "  hav- 
ing its  life  in  itself,"  capable  of  expanding  its 
area,  "redeeming  the  time,"  and  insuring  the 
record  of  a  future  more  fruitful  than  the  past. 

THE   ELECTION  OF  DR.   H.   C.   FISH. 

In  electing  another  pastor,  however,  the  mother- 
church  seemed  to  be  realizing  the  caution  of  the 
old  proverb,  "  Make  haste  slowly."  In  the  course 
of  a  few  weeks  a  number  of  names  had  been  con- 


PRINCIPLES  OF  CHURCH-GROWTH.         255 

sidered,  without  any  sign  of  unanimity.  Mean- 
while an  article,  puljlished  in  one  of  onr  papers, 
setting  forth  the  Scriptural  idea  of  church-extension 
by  means  of  mission-work  sustained  by  churches 
co-operating  and  acting  through  their  own  chosen 
representatives,  as  distinguished  from  societies  ex- 
temporized locally  to  meet  special  needs,  arrested 
my  attention.  The  article  was  attributed  to  Rev. 
Henry  Clay  Fish  of  Somerville,  N.J.,  of  whom 
we  had  already  known  something  as  an  earnest 
thinker  and  a  persistent  worker.  Through  Mr. 
Wilson  I  learned  that  his  name  had  been  con- 
siderately mentioned  in  relation  to  the  pastorate 
of  the  First  Church,  but  that  several  of  the  senior 
members  had  mildly  uttered  some  doubts  or  ob- 
jections pertaining  to  his  general  bearing,  —  his  air, 
manner,  self-assertion,  and  the  expression  of  his 
physique,  —  all  summed  up  in  the  saying,  ''He  car- 
ries his  head  too  high."  I  observed  to  Mr.  Wilson 
that  this  view  of  Mr.  Fish's  personality  was  to  me 
entirely  unexpected,  and  inquired  whether  it  were 
in  accordance  with  his  own.  He  replied,  "Not  at 
all.  I  think  it  to  be  a  mere  prejudice  that  would 
yield  to  a  better  acquaintance  and  a  true  knowl- 
edge of  the  man."  To  this  sentiment  I  responded 
heartily;  adding,  "I  pray  you,  do  justice  to  your 
own  conviction,  and  remind  our  friends  of  the 
caution  of  Jesus,  '  Judge  not  according  to  appear- 


256  LIFE   NOTES. 

ance,  but  jndge  righteous  judgment.'  A  man  may- 
carry  his  head  high,  as  set  by  nature  upon  his 
shoulders,  without  being  high-minded ;  while  an- 
other may  bend  his  head  downward  like  a  bulrush, 
and  yet  be  as  proud  as  Lucifer.  In  his  writing, 
Mr.  Fish  has  already  indicated  a  clear  conception 
of  the  true  principle  of  church-extension  in  en- 
tire accordance  with  what  we  consider  the  primi- 
tively Christian  idea,  as  apt  as  ever,  too,  to  our 
own  times.  Hence  I  have  been  hoping  that  you 
would  not  go  out  of  New  Jersey,  since,  as  Paul 
said  of  Timothy,  I  know  of  no  man  like-minded 
who  would  naturally  care  for  your  state."  Ere- 
long these  views  prevailed  ;  Mr.  Fish  was  elected, 
and  it  was  my  happiness  to  give  him  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship  as  a  part  of  the  public  service 
of  recognition. 

THE  FIRST   UlSriFIED   MOVEMENT. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  months,  Dr.  Fish  having 
become  well  acquainted  with  his  surroundings,  I 
was  not  surprised  by  his  greeting  me,  one  Monday 
morning,  with  the  expression  of  his  matured  fore- 
thought; "It  seems  to  me  that  the  time  has  come 
for  our  two  churches  to  unite  in  starting  a  mission- 
work  in  this  city,  north  or  south;  what  think 
you?"  —  "Certainly,"  I  replied,  "it  is  a  mere 
question  of  time.     I  have  been  waiting  for  you  to 


PRINCIPLES  OF  CHURCH-GROWTH.         25/ 

take  time  enough  to  impart  to  the  whole  aggre- 
gate of  the  First  Church  your  own  sentiment,  to 
be  assured  of  their  sympathy,  and  to  sound  the 
note  of  advance."  — "Then,"  said  he,  "we  are  all 
ready."      The    conclusion   was,   after   conferring 
fully  with  our  friends,  to  call  a  union  meeting  on 
Sunday  evening,  at   the   South   Church,   Kinney 
Street,  to  consider  and  determine  "the  things  that 
ought  to  be  done."     At  the  set  hour  the  house 
was  crowded  with  a  sympathetic  audience  ;  and 
the   practical   issue   of  the   deliberation  was  the 
appointment  of  a  Mission  Board  of  twelve,  choos- 
ing six  representative  men  from  each  church,  with 
directions  to    select  a  site,  to  erect  a  chapel,  to 
engage,  if  practicable,  a  missionary  pastor,  and  to 
present  a  report  of  their  doings  at  a  union  meet- 
ing to  be  called  by  them  when  the  assigned  work 
should  have  been  accomplished.     The  next  union 
gathering,  in  the  same  place,  took  on  the  character 
of  an  anniversary.     The  Board  had  fulfilled  its 
commission,  and  reported  a  debt  of  three  thousand 
dollars.     That  amount  was  raised  at  once,  and  the 
assembly  separated  more  hopeful  than  ever  of  see- 
ing a  unified  method  of  progress  realized ;  namely, 
three    churches   acting   in    concert   for  a   fourth, 
then  four  for  a  fifth,  and  so  onward,  until  the  law 
of  limitation  should  assert  itself. 


258  LIFE  NOTES, 

MEMORABLE  CAREER   OF  DR.   FISH. 

Thus  the  work  of  church-extension  in  Newark 
was  auspiciously  begun  ;  and  now,  looking  back 
over  the  quarter  of  a  century  that  followed,  that 
completed  Dr.  Fish's  ministry  and  his  life  on  earth, 
it  becomes  evident  that  there  was  no  field  of  ser- 
vice upon  this  continent  where  his  power  and 
inspiring  presence  as  an  earnest  and  persistent 
worker  could  have  found  more  fitting  scope  for 
effective  action,  or  better  adaptations  for  calling 
forth  the  highest  and  best  that  was  in  him. 
When,  after  my  three  years'  constant  co-operation 
in  that  field,  other  undertakings  of  special  interest 
drew  me  away  from  Newark,  I  was  still,  during 
the  remaining  twenty-two  years  of  his  course, 
watching  with  the  keenest  sympathy  his  every 
movement  pert-aining  to  the  common  mission- 
work,  renewedly  cheered  and  strengthened  by 
the  achievements  of  his  untiling  spirit,  recog- 
nizing in  his  life-work  an  apt  adjustment  of 
gifts  to  time  and  place,  and  the  best  "serving 
of  his  generation."  Little  did  I  dream  of  the 
possibility  of  my  outliving  him,  and  of  being 
requested,  by  the  people  whom  he  loved  and 
served  so  well,  to  rehearse  in  their  presence 
his  whole  career,  and  thus  to  offer  a  memorial 
discourse   as   a   tribute   of  love   to   tell  its  own 


PRINCIPLES  OF  CHURCH-GROWTH.         259 

story  of  his  sterling  character  as  a  man,  and  his 
heroic  spirit  as  an  "  able  minister  of  the  New 
Testament." 

KETKOSPECTIVE  VIEW  OF  NEWARK. 

As  a  thriving  and  progressive  community,  New- 
ark has  held  a  place  of  eminence  in  the  history  of 
the  country  from  its  earliest  days.  At  the  begin- 
ning (1666),  its  area,  purchased  from  the  Indians 
for  a  few  blankets  and  guns  by  settlers  from  New 
Haven  and  Milford,  Conn.,  extended  from  the 
Passaic  to  the  base  of  the  Orange  Mountain. 
The  elements  of  New-England  life  predominated 
in  its  development,  —  industrial,  social,  intel- 
lectual, and  religious.  Even  the  grand  old  elms 
that  shaded  and  beautified  its  pathways  a  century 
ago,  awakened  reminiscences  of  New  Haven  and 
its  cultured  homes.  Those  first-coming  families 
well  understood  the  conditions  of  thrifty  advance- 
ment, and  knew  how  to  make  good  investments 
of  capital  in  church-edifices  and  schoolhouses,  as 
well  as  in  manufactures  that  were  sure  to  attract 
the  muscular  strength  of  the  rising  rural  districts 
around  them.  The  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
centrally  situated,  now  regarded  by  the  young 
as  "  an  antiquity,"  is  still,  architecturally,  as  fit  as 
ever  to  the  needs  of  "the  time,"  and  has  never 
been  long  lacking  a  ministry  of  the  highest  order 


26o  LIFE  NOTES. 

of  mind.  The  schools  have  always  been  of  the 
best,  and  the  Academy  has  been  effective  in  its 
preparatory  college  training.  The  press,  too,  has 
achieved  distinction;  ''The  Newark  Daily  Adver- 
tiser "  has  ever  held  a  high  position  in  journalism, 
and  even  half  a  centnry  ago,  under  the  editorship 
of  Hon.  Thomas  Kinney  (once  United  States  i\Iin- 
ister  at  Turin),  was  the  chief  journal  outside  of 
New  York  whose  articles  were  constantly  quoted 
over  the  whole  land,  unless,  indeed,  we  might 
regard  "  The  Springfield  Republican,"  of  Massa- 
chusetts, as  its  fellow  in  this  relation.  Under  the 
direction  of  his  son,  ]\Ir.  Thomas  Kinney,  "  The 
Advertiser "  yet  lives  and  thrives,  winning  to  its 
service  the  contributions  of  scholarly  writers, 
among  whom  we  have  noticed,  occasionally,  the 
veteran  physician  and  poet  of  Newark,  Dr.  Abra- 
ham Coles,  author  of  "  The  Evangel,"  with  its  im- 
mense wealth  of  critical  scholiasm,  the  tasteful  and 
rhythmic  translator  of  Latin  poetry  that  enriches 
our  libraries,  —  for  instance,  in  the  artistically 
wrought  edition  of  the  "  Dies  Irse."  May  he  long 
live  to  enjoy  his  serene  life-evening  in  his  com- 
paratively literary  seclusion  ! 

A  retrospective  view  of  my  life  in  Newark  is 
associated  with  memories  of  cherished  friendships, 
and  of  attractive  work  for  which  the  days  seemed 
too  short.     My  health  was  uninterruptedly  at  its 


PRINCIPLES   OF  CIIURCH-GROWTIL         26 1 

best ;  yet  that  of  my  family,  who  were  all  bom  in 
Massachusetts,  yielded  to  Avhat  was  regarded  as 
the  malarial  influence  of  the  surroundings,  so  that 
their  removal  seemed  to  them,  personally,  a  su- 
preme necessity.  The  separation  of  a  family  may 
become  a  rather  serious  question  at  times,  —  as 
much  so  in  America  as  in  India,  where  it  more 
frequent]}^  recurs  as  "a  missionary  experience." 
Coincident  Avith  this  questioning  came  the  visita- 
tion of  a  committee  from  the  Pearl-street  Church, 
Albany,  bearing  a  call  to  their  pastorate.  This 
connection  of  events  was  interpreted  by  the  house- 
hold as  simply  meaning  "  God  wills  it,"  and  this 
prevailing  conviction  issued  in  my  removal  to 
Albany. 


262  LIFE  NOTES. 


XX. 

ELEMENTS  OF  THRIFT  AND  GROWTH. 
EARLY   MEMORIES    OF   ALBANY. 

My  acquaintance  with  Albau}^  and  its  society 
dates  back  to  the  period  of  college-years,  when  I 
was  accustomed,  in  passing  from  New  York  to 
Clinton,  back  and  forth,  to  "  stop  over "  as  a 
guest  in  the  pleasant  home  of  the  well-remembered 
mayor  and  State  Senator,  Hon.  Friend  Humphrey, 
whose  name  is  associated  closely  with  the  early 
annals  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Albany. 
Among  the  noteworthy  events  pertaining  to  this 
period  was  the  call  of  the  Rev.  Bartholomew  T. 
Welch  of  Catskill  to  the  pastorate  of  that  church. 
Already  (1824-26)  Dr.  Welch's  preaching  had 
attracted  special  attention  beyond  his  neighbor- 
hood; and  his  spacious  house  of  worship  in  Albany, 
though  then  rather  obscurely  situated  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  city,  was  thronged  by  audiences  com- 
prising many  of  the  leading  men  of  that  day  who 
were  residing  at  the  State  capital. 

The  power  put  forth  from  that  pulpit  was,  in- 


THRIFT  AND   GROWTH.  263 

deed,  far-reaching ;  for  not  only  were  thinking  men 
attracted,  but  hundreds  representing  the  broadest 
range  of  average  intelligence  were  touched  and 
moved,  —  a  fact  emphasized  by  the  saying  of  a 
lady  who,  her  habitual  attendance  at  the  theatre 
and  the  church  alike  having  been  noticed  so  as  to 
call  forth  her  companions'  friendly  questioning 
whether  nhe  were  really  interested  in  Dr.  Welch's 
preaching,  answered,  "Certainly,  just  as  much  as 
in  Cooper's  playing.  They  are  both  geniuses,  and 
the  combination  of  elements  in  each  is  singular." 
Tliat  casual  reply  is  especially  suggestive ;  for  Dr. 
Welch's  preaching  was  not  sensational.,  but  char- 
acteristically doctrinal  and  argumentative:  yet, 
when  at  his  best,  his  argumentation,  warm  from 
the  heart  as  well  as  brain,  w\as  as  "logic  set  on 
fire  ;  "  and  his  illustrations,  drawn  from  biblical  or 
historic  scenes,  facts,  and  characters,  exhibited  a 
power  of  description  seldom,  if  ever,  surpassed. 
Such  a  union  of  imaginative  and  reasoning  faculty 
with  naturally  oratorical  expression  is  rare  indeed. 

MINISTERIAL   CAREER   OF   DR.  WELCH  IN  ALBANY. 

Thus  exceptionall}'  gifted,  the  natural  and  im- 
pulsive play  of  Dr.  Welch's  mind  imposed  some 
severe  conditions  of  success :  for  he  could  not  go 
to  his  pulpit  without  a  conscious  grasp  of  his 
whole  subject  as  a  unity ;  not  exactly  "  word  for 


264  LIFE  NOTES. 

word,"  but  thought  for  thought,  so  consecutively 
held  as  to  infold  his  own  inspiring  power  of  force- 
ful speech.  These  moods  could  not  always  be 
commanded ;  thus,  unable  to  avail  himself,  like  his 
Scotch  contemporary,  Chalmers,  of  adjusted  manu- 
script, his  effort,  before  leaving  his  study  for  the 
pulpit,  to  realize  his  own  ideal  of  preparedness, 
became  at  times  a  perilous  agony.  Yet,  in  cases 
of  extreme  exhaustion,  his  childlike  faith  ever 
saved  him.  He  believed  in  his  divine  calling  to 
his  work ;  and  this  conviction  was  life  and  power, 
as  real  as  that  of  Peter  walking  upon  the  waves. 
His  twenty  years'  pastorate,  judged  by  its  issues, 
seemed  the  most  brilliant  and  effective  that  I  had 
ever  known,  either  as  a  reader  or  an  observer. 
It  began  in  a  place  of  comparative  obscurity ;  it 
ended  in  a  church-edifice  centrally  situated,  archi- 
tecturally attractive,  and  recognized,  moreover,  as 
the  church-home  of  a  people  whose  intellectual 
and  social  power  became  an  effective  factor  in 
almost  every  department  of  Christian  or  philan- 
thropic work  that  has  marked  the  progressive 
trend  of  the  century.  When  Mr.  Van  Buren  left 
Albany  to  make  his  home  in  Washington  as  presi- 
dent of  the  Senate,  and  thence  afterwards  as 
President  of  the  United  States,  it  was  his  desire, 
as  it  was  also  the  desire  of  another  parishioner. 
Secretary    Marcy,    to    see    some    way    properly 


THRIFT  AND    GROWTH.  26$ 

opened  for  the  calling  of  Dr,  Welch  to  fulfil  his 
ministry  at  the  national  capital.  In  the  mind  of 
the  Albany  preacher,  however,  there  was  no  ambi- 
tion responsive  to  this  friendly  expression ;  yet, 
after  twenty  years  of  persistent  service,  a  call  to 
Brooklyn,  urged  by  sanitary  reasons,  awakening  a 
hope  that  the  change  of  scene,  climate,  and  field 
of  action  might  induce  a  renewal  of  youthful 
energy,  met  with  an  acceptance  that  was  regarded 
by  his  friends  in  Albany  as  indicating  an  abnormal 
state  of  mind  that  might  have  been  better  met  by 
a  voyage  to  Europe.  At  the  beginning  of  my 
ministry  in  Albany  Dr.  Welch  was  occupying  this 
position  in  Brooklyn  ;  while,  at  his  old  home- 
centre,  we  were  all  interested  in  watching  for  the 
moment  when  he  would  be  inclined  to  retire  from 
all  official  service  pertaining  to  city  life,  and  accept 
the  homestead  in  our  neighborhood,  at  Newton- 
ville,  so  lovingly  offered,  situated  amid  quiet  sur- 
roundings favorable  to  the  enjoyment  of  a  serene 
life  evening.  Erelong  that  moment  came.  He 
accepted  an  invitation  to  spend  a  Sunday  with 
us,  and  preached  in  his  old  pulpit.  A  day  or  two 
afterward  we  met  as  guests  at  the  home  of  Gen. 
John  F.  Rathbone,  in  whose  company  this  question 
of  retirement  from  city  life  was  renewedly  talked 
over.  Dr.  Welch  re-affirmed  his  feeling  of  ability 
for  continued  service   in  the  pulpit,  and  quoted 


266  LIFE  NOTES. 

the  testimony  of  his  friends  in  Brooklyn.  I  had 
noticed  on  Sunday,  that,  in  holding  the  book  to 
announce  the  hymn,  there  was  a  tremor  of  his 
hand,  and  called  his  attention  to  the  significance 
of  that  fact,  the  liability  that  it  suggested.  After 
a  few  moments'  silence,  he  said,  "Well,  you  are 
all  right.  As  you  say,  God  wills  it;  and  so  I 
yield  to  your  advising."  Thence,  for  successive 
years,  his  suburban  residence  became  to  us  all  an 
object  of  special  interest ;  while  the  city  itself 
continued  to  minister  largely,  as  of  old,  to  the 
enjoyment  of  his  social  life. 

PROGRESSIVE   CHURCH-WORK. 

During  the  period  thus  noted,  one  element  of 
Dr.  Welch's  happiness  was  his  sympathetic  inter- 
est in  the  welfare  of  "  the  Pearl-street  Church," 
and  his  appreciation  of  every  thing  said  or  done 
that  indicated  the  genuine  spirit  of  progressive 
work,  the  growth  of  "  a  power  for  good."  Every 
step  in  this  direction  seemed  to  impart  to  him  a 
feeling  of  rejuvenation.  Thus,  he  was  delighted 
to  observe  how  readily  the  church  had  adopted 
the  system  of  laying  upon  the  altar,  each  sabbath 
morning,  an  offering  of  benevolence  for  one  or 
another  department  of  mission-work,  springing 
from  the  apostolic  idea  of  concerted  giving; 
namely,  laying  by  in  store  on  the  first  day  of  the 


THRIFT  AND    GROWTH.  267 

week,  "according  to  ability."  The  principle  was 
actualized ;  and  thence  arose  the  chapels  that 
became  the  homes  of  self-supporting  churches, 
each  of  them  supplying  a  record  replete  with  en- 
couragement for  fresh  effort.  The  beginnings 
were  humble  ;  but,  when  one  of  the  earliest  of 
these  organisms  called  Rev.  Dr.  Justin  D.  Fulton 
to  its  pastorate,  there  was  a  prevailing  impression 
that  it  had  become  a  real  reformatory  power ; 
especially  so,  when  George  Dawson,  Esq.,  editor 
of  "The  Albany  Evening  Journal,"  long  asso- 
ciated with  the  Pearl-street  Church,  gave  himself 
with  an  enkindled  enthusiasm  to  a  course  of 
active  service  in  connection  with  this  "new  enter- 
prise," as  we  used  to  call  it  while  it  existed  only 
in  forethought. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  PUBLIC   SPIRIT. 

In  this  connection  it  seems  worthy  of  record 
that  every  step  forward  in  the  line  of  evangelizing 
work  was  noticed  by  the  press  in  all  directions, 
without  distinction  of  parties,  with  congratulatory 
expression,  and  was  welcomed  by  the  community 
generally  as  the  promotion  of  a  common  interest. 
This  was  done  persistently,  in  ways  that  indicated 
a  prevailing  sentiment,  and  not  a  mere  flashing  of 
temporary  feeling.  The  degree  of  this  spontane- 
ous sympathy,  flowing  from  a  source  deeper  than 


268  LIFE  NOTES. 

the  excitement  of  any  special  appeal,  I  was  led  to 
regard  as,  in  part,  an  ontgrowth  and  fruitage  of 
Dr.  Welch's  ministry ;  remembering,  as  we  all  did, 
what  a  genial  relationship  to  the  whole  commu- 
nity he  sustained  when  he  stepped  forth  as  if  he 
had  been  commissioned  and  inspired  to  arouse  all 
to  united  efforts  and  generous  sacrifices  for  the 
creation  of  a  public  cemetery  worthy  of  their  place 
and  name,  thus  keeping  step  with  the  aesthetic 
needs  of  our  American  civilization.  They  were 
responsive  to  his  appeals,  and  endowed  him  with 
ample  power  of  executive  action.  Such  catholicity 
of  feeling,  putting  itself  forth  in  practical  unity 
of  aim,  is  of  itself  a  sign  of  inherited  culture,  cre- 
ating an  atmosphere  of  its  own.  The  pulpit  has 
alwaj^s  kept  relatively  its  original  position  in  Al- 
bany as  a  recognized  power  of  intellectual  and 
social  leadership;  and  merely  to  mention  the  name 
of  my  nearest  clerical  neighbor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wil- 
liam B.  Sprague,  author  of  ''Annals  of  the  Ameri- 
can Pulpit,"  would  suggest  to  many  memories  a 
matter-of-fact  illustration.  The  foamy  efferves- 
cences of  political  partyism  at  the  capital  con- 
ceal from  the  eyes  of  many  a  visitor  the  broad 
area  of  cultivated  mind  that  has  characterized  the 
genuine  home-life  of  the  grandly  substantial  old 
city. 


THRIFT  AND    GROWTH.  269 

ALBANY    AS   A   HISTORIC   COMMUNITY. 

Tliis  substantiality  of  the  oldest  settlement  of 
the  old  thirteen  States  (Jamestown,  Va.,  ex- 
cepted) was  the  product  of  ph3'sical  and  moral 
elements  that  lay  originally  in  the  character  of  the 
families  that  emigrated  from  Holland  more  than 
two  centuries  and  a  half  ago,  destined  to  take 
rank  with  the  founders  of  a  new-world  civilization. 
They  were  honest,  industrious,  maidy  pioneers, 
who,  being  represented  mainly  by  the  Schuylers 
in  all  their  dealings  with  the  neighboring  Indians, 
won  the  confidence  of  savage  men,  lived  in  peace 
upon  the  land  occupied  as  "  the  city  of  their  habi- 
tation," and  named  the  place  New  Orange.  That 
name  was  kept  until  1664,  when  the  province 
passed  under  the  dominion  of  the  English,  who 
memorialized  their  supremacy  by  the  new  name, 
Albany,  in  honor  of  the  Duke  of  York  and  Albany, 
afterward  known  as  James  11. ,  — a  king  not  worthy 
to  be  thought  of,  however,  in  comparison  with 
William,  Prince  of  Orange,  who  was  called  to  the 
throne  of  England  in  1688.  Nevertheless,  Albany 
was  a  good  euphonic  name,  historically  interesting, 
and,  after  the  Revolutionary  War,  stood  for  a  com- 
munity distinguished  by  thrift  and  growth,  whose 
fortunes  were  shaped  by  the  gradual  fusion  of 
Dutch  and  Yankee  elements  that  asserted  them- 


2/0  LIFE  NOTES. 

selves  ill  the  development  of  sturdy  balanced  char- 
acter. Thus,  from  the  starting-point  of  its  career 
Albany  was  morally  well-toned ;  and  as  to  signs 
of  education  and  culture,  such  as  schools,  acad- 
emies, libraries,  literary  societies,  scientific  insti- 
tutions, university  lectureships,  and  an  endowed 
observatory  (the  gift  of  a  citizen,  but  worthy  of  a 
State  capital),  lias  held  its  own  in  the  foreground 
of  any  just  historical  picturing  of  our  progressive 
American  life. 

OUR   VETERAN   CONTEMPORARIES. 

Of  contemi)orary  leaders  of  public  thought 
whose  names  are  still  fresh  and  fragrant,  no  one 
man  has  stood  forth  more  eminently  for  successive 
generations  as  an  accepted  representative  of  this 
type  of  substantial  character,  tlian  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Eliphalet  Nott,  who  resigned  his  ministry  in  Al- 
bany—  soon  after  the  publication  of  his  celebrated 
sermon  on  the  death  of  Gen.  Hamilton  —  to  fulfil 
his  main  life-work  in  the  vicinity  as  president  of 
Union  College,  Schenectady,  and,  we  may  truly 
add,  in  whom  the  church  and  the  college,  the 
preacher  and  the  educator,  were  effectively  united. 
At  the  semi-centennial  anniversary  of  his  presi- 
dency in  1854,  several  hundreds,  representing 
more  than  thirty-seven  hundred  men  who  had  grad- 
uated under  him,  were  assembled ;  and  I  rem  em- 


THRIFT  AA^D   GROWTFL  2^1 

1ier  one  who  said,  tliat  if  there  had  been  such  an 
office  as  president  of  the  world,  whereof  the  occu- 
pant must  be  designated  by  free  suffrage,  the  ma- 
jority of  Dr.  Nott's  students  would  have  agreed 
that  he  was  the  right  man  to  be  voted  for.  How- 
ever fanciful  the  rhetoric  of  that,  expression,  the 
feeling  was  real.  Wonderfully  grand  old  man ! 
Once,  when  his  guest  for  a  day,  while  fulfilling  an 
appointment  at  the  college,  he  mentioned  to  me  his 
belief  that  he  would  live  to  see  his  hundredth  year 
on  eartli.  Such  was  the  vitality  of  his  tempera- 
ment, and,  Moses-like,  of  "natural  force  unabated." 
The  last  time  that  I  saw  him  was  in  Albany,  on 
a  memorable  occasion,  —  the  funeral  of  ex-Secretary 
Marcy,  July,  1857,  —  when  the  whole  city  was  in 
mourning,  and  the  sympathies  of  the  nation  were 
expressed  by  the  large  assemblage  at  the  State 
Capitol  of  men  who  were  representative  of  the 
government  at  Washington.  As  the  lifelong 
pastor  of  Gov.  Marcy,  Dr.  Welch  was  invited  to 
deliver  the  address  of  the  occasion ;  having  de- 
clined, however,  on  account  of  infirmity,  and  the 
official  duty  having  thence  devolved  upon  me,  it 
was  an  agreeable  surprise,  on  my  entering  the 
speaker's  desk  at  the  Capitol,  to  meet  President 
Nott  awaiting  my  arrival,  having  accepted  his 
appointment  to  lead  the  devotional  service.  His 
mere  appearance  there  was  an  impressive  event  ,• 


2/2  LIFE  NOTES. 

regarded  from  my  point  of  view,  lie  was  invested 
with  a  patriarchal  majesty,  suggesting  a  sense  of 
unfitness  in  my  appointment  to  voice  the  senti- 
ment of  the  nation  in  the  hearing  of  one  who  was 
an  accepted  teacher  and  leader  of  men  long  before 
I  was  born,  and  in  relation  to  whom  it  might  be 
said  that  there  was  no  man  then  living  whose  mere 
presence  would  awaken  in  so  many  minds  the  most 
thrilling  memories  of  an  eventful  past. 

And  now,  at  the  moment  of  this  writing,  a  sali- 
ent feature  of  that  scene  re-appears  in  the  expres- 
sive countenance  of  ex-President  Martin  Van 
Buren,  whose  presence  also  "opened  the  many 
cells  where  memories  slept."  No  man  was  ever 
more  highly  gifted  with  entire  self-possession, 
especially  observed,  too,  amid  the  fiery  storms  that 
raged  in  the  United  States  Senate  Chamber,  where 
he,  while  Henry  Clay  was  yet  in  his  prime,  pre- 
sided, and  where  he  ever  seemed  calm,  emotionless, 
rising  above  all  liability  to  the  slightest  degree  of 
mental  agitation.  Rarely,  if  ever,  did  he  betray 
any  emotionally  responsive  feeling  or  any  weak- 
ness of  keen  sensibility.  On  this  sad  occasion, 
however,  he  was  deeply  moved  by  a  sentence  or 
two,  quoted  from  an  American  historian,  describ- 
ing the  scene  of  Washington's  farewell  interview 
with  the  officers  of  his  army  at  the  close  of  the 
Revolutionary    War,    when    the    Commander-in- 


THRIFT  AND   GROWTH.  2/3 

Chief,  unable  to  conceal  his  emotions,  confessed 
his  inability  to  rise  from  his  chair  to  take  each 
one  of  them  by  the  hand,  but  requested  them  to 
come,  one  by  one,  and  take  him  by  the  hand ;  thus 
illustrating  the  deep  sympathies  that  the  retro- 
spects of  life  call  forth  from  the  contemporary 
actors  of  eventful  times.  The  ex-President  made 
no  effort  to  conceal  the  profound  feeling  quickened 
by  the  memories  of  his  heroic  friend,  whose  manly 
form,  now  cold  in  death,  lay  near  him  there. 

At  the  time  thus  noted,  July,  1857,  it  did  not 
seem  at  all  probable  that  I  would  fulfil  my  minis- 
try of  the  future  in  any  pastoral  relation  away 
from  Albany.  The  subtle  affinities  that  unite 
pastor  and  people  were  asserting  their  strength 
day  by  day.  Nevertheless,  experience  teaches  us 
all,  in  new  ways,  the  old  lesson,  that  "  the  Heavens 
do  rule;"  and  so,  before  the  close  of  1857,  I  was 
transferred  from  the  capital  to  the  metropolis, 
not  attracted  by  any  superior  ecclesiastical  posi- 
tion, but  led  by  an  "  overruling  Providence,"  and 
"  bound  in  spirit "  to  seek  the  realization  of  special 
ends. 


2/4  ^^^^  NOTES. 


XXI. 

STUDYING  THE  SIGNS  OF  THE  TIMES. 
FROM   THE   CAPITAL   TO   THE   METROPOLIS. 

The  day  following  tlie  funeral  of  Secretary 
Marcy,  already  referred  to,  I  was  on  my  way 
westward,  in  accordance  with  a  promise  drawn 
from  me  by  the  committee  of  the  Second  Baptist 
Church  of  St.  Louis,  that  I  would  not  answer  the 
call  of  the  church  to  their  pastorate  until  I  had 
visited  their  city,  and  conferred  with  them  person- 
ally. The  acquaintance  then  formed  has  already 
been  a  pleasant  memory;  yet  I  was  constrained 
by  sanitary  reasons  to  decline  their  invitation, 
and  was  induced  soon  afterwards  to  accept  a  call 
to  a  field  of  special  work  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
believing  that  the  atmosphere  of  the  seacoast 
would  be  for  me  a  more  healthful  environment 
than  that  of  an  interior  riverside. 

When  it  became  known  to  my  circle  of  friends 
in  Alban}^  that  a  formal  communication  had  been 
sent  to  me  from  New  York,  proposing  my  removal 
thither  with  a  view  of  erecting  in  the  upper  part 


STUDYING    THE   SIGXS   OF   THE    TEMES.     2/5 

of  tlie  city  a  new  church-home  in  architectural 
harmou}^  with  its  suiToundings,  the  conversational 
questionings  that  followed  were  all  based  upon 
the  supposition  that  there  must  have  been,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  a  new  combination  of  earnest 
men  financially  qualified  to  initiate  such  an  enter- 
prise. When  it  came  to  be  understood,  however, 
that  the  proposal  had  taken  the  form  of  a  regular 
call  to  the  pastorate  of  a  small  church,  occupying 
a  small  house  of  worsliip,  having  an  income  of 
scattered  rentages  amounting  to  about  four  hun- 
dred dollars  per  annum,  and  distinguished  by  no 
material  advantage  except  its  position  on  the  cor- 
ner of  Lexington  Avenue  and  Thirtieth  Street, 
there  was  a  free  expression  of  surprise  that  I 
could  discern  in  this  proposal  a  "  spirit  of  faith  " 
uttering  an  appeal  that,  like  an  echo  of  the  voice 
of  God,  was  worthy  of  profound  respect  and  sym- 
pathetic interest. 

Yet  so  it  was.  That  sentiment  liad  been  of 
gradual  growth.  For  more  than  a  decade  of 
years,  after  the  introduction  of  street  rail-cars,  the 
breaking-up  of  church-homes  in  New  York  by  the 
aggressions  of  trade,  and  the  flow  of  family-life  to 
the  upper  wards,  where  scores  of  young  Christian 
householders  were  drifting  away  from  their  reli- 
gious centres,  had  been  quite  often  a  subject  of 
deliberative    talk    m    incidental    meetings    with 


2/6  LIFE  NOTES. 

friends,  especially  with  veteran  members  of  "  old 
Oliver  Street,"  the  first  chosen  church-home  of  my 
early  days.  Provision  for  this  exigency  seemed 
then  the  chief  demand  of  the  time ;  and  the  ques- 
tioning was  often  put,  in  one  and  another  form  of 
expression,  Why  should  not  ''  old  Oliver  Street " 
continue  to  fulfil  its  historic  course  as  a  family 
cliuTcl^  providing  for  and  drawing  to  itself  as  a 
home-centre  the  new  households  that  would  natu- 
rally come  within  the  scope  of  its  ministries  ? 
Hence,  why  not  yield  betimes  to  the  necessity  of 
removal  "  up  town,"  and  place  itself  at  the  centre 
of  this  extending  home-life  ?  In  this  connection, 
too,  how  often  have  we  heard  from  the  lifelong 
residents  of  the  loAver  ward,  responsive  to  such 
inquiries,  the  exclamation,  "  Oh,  we  have  even 
now  around  the  old  church  a  Avide  field,  a  dense 
population,  increasing  every  day  !  "  Then,  to  this, 
how  often  was  made  the  appealing  reply,  *'  Do 
you  expect  to  reach  this  aggregation  of  foreign 
elements  outside  of  Christian  family-life  by  such 
means  of  growth,  culture,  and  edification  as  you 
require  for  yourselves,  your  children,  your  friends 
or  associates  ?  '  Count  the  cost  like  a  king  going 
to  war,'  as  Jesus  once  said  ;  provide  here  where 
3'OU  are,  '  down  town,'  your  bands  of  trained 
workers,  experts  in  address,  apt  to  penetrate  into 
all  recesses,  skilled  in  winning  souls,  one  by  one, 


STUDYING    THE  SIGNS   OF   THE    TIMES.     2  J  J 

like  miners  after  nuggets  of  gold  beneath  the  sur- 
face, or  else  seek  to  gather  around  the  old  banner 
the  scattered  and  growing  families  pertaining  to 
our  own  kith  and  kin  in  the  rising  neighborhoods 
of  the  city." 

At  this  period,  while  these  questionings  were 
day  by  day  recurring  without  leading  to  any  issue, 
the  Lexington-avenue  Baptist  Church  addressed 
to  me,  unexpectedly,  a  call  to  their  pastorate  ; 
urging  its  acceptance  by  no  argument  except  the 
conviction,  that,  though  organically  few,  they  were 
actually  representative  of  many  who  regarded 
topographical  convenience  as  a  mighty  factor  in 
shaping  the  issues  of  the  time.  Their  statement 
of  the  case  fitly  emphasized  my  own  view  of  the 
outlook :  their  call,  therefore,  coming  to  me  as  a 
sympathetic  appeal  for  co-operation  in  a  common 
cause  of  exceptional  interest,  was  at  once  "effec- 
tual;" and  thus,  despite  all  that  seemed  pruden- 
tially  objectionable,  induced  a  prompt  acceptance. 

ONWARD  FROM  SMALL  BEGINNINGS. 

In  accordance  with  public  announcement,  the 
series  of  pastoral  services  responsive  to  that  call 
was  begun  on  the  first  sabbath  of  April,  1858, 
and  rendered  more  and  more  encouraging  by  full 
audiences,  composed  mainly  of  men  the  most  of 
whom,  of  various  professions  and  businesses,  rep- 


2'/S  LIFE  NOISES. 

resented  in  a  good  degree  the  home-life  of  the 
vicinity.  A  considerable  number  of  the  younger 
class,  of  both  sexes,  welcomed  the  course  of  weekly 
conversational  lectures,  in  the  vestry,  on  biblical 
and  correlated  topics  ;  all  being  free  to  question 
the  speaker,  as  of  old  in  the  weekly  synagogue 
services  referred  to  in  the  New  Testament.  Thus, 
from  the  first,  there  were  apparent  many  hopeful 
signs  of  congenial  sentiment,  a  spirit  of  inquiry,  a 
trend  toward  unity  of  action  as  well  as  of  ideal 
aim.  At  the  same  time,  there  were  indications  of 
an  increasing  religious  interest,  enlivening  the  de- 
votional gatherings,  and  signalized  by  testimonies 
of  personal  belief,  of  conviction,  conversion,  and 
settledness  of  mind,  quickened  by  successive  bap- 
tismal occasions  that  seldom  failed  to  utter  their 
own  appeals  effectively ;  sometimes,  indeed,  where 
least  expected.  Hence  our  comparatively  small 
beginnings  in  Lexington  Avenue  grew  healthfully. 
Erelong,  at  the  end  of  "  the  old  quarter,"  on  the 
set  evening  when  the  pews  of  the  whole  house 
were  offered  for  the  coming  year,  the  amount  of 
rentages  went  up  from  several  hundreds  to  as 
many  thousands ;  exhibiting  a  list  of  names  that 
stood  for  an  aggregate  of  men  combining  all  the 
forces  requisite  to  the  success  of  the  work  set 
before  us,  —  the  building  of  a  convenient  church- 
home  architecturally  suited  to  its  surroundings. 


STUDYING    THE   SIGNS   OF   THE    TIMES.     2/9 


PROGRESS   THROUGH   SUNSHINE   AND   STORM. 

Thenceforward  the  project  moved  on  apace,  as 
if  the  fitting  agencies  were  organizing  themselves 
spontaneously.  Even  the  question  of  location, 
despite  ray  fear  of  its  necessitating  delay,  seemed 
to  settle  itself  rather  easily  when  the  owner  of  the 
ground-plot  that  had  been  my  lirst  choice,  remem- 
berhig  me  as  a  schoolmate  of  his  early  youth, 
pointed  out,  of  his  own  accord,  the  eligibility  of 
the  site  (Madison  Avenue,  corner  Thirty-first 
Street),  indicating  also  his  sympathy  with  our 
aims,  and  his  hopes  of  their  realization.  This 
expression  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Jacob  Vanderpool 
met  a  need  of  the  movement,  and  smoothed  our 
way.  About  the  same  time  a  fresh  impulse  forward 
was  imparted  by  the  expressions  of  personal  in- 
terest on  the  part  of  an  excellent  lady.  Miss  Sarah 
Colgate  (daughter  of  William  Colgate,  Esq.),  who, 
having  been  influential  as  "a  living  presence," 
uttered  a  memorably  effective  appeal  for  our 
cause  in  one  of  the  latest  acts  of  her  life,  put 
forth  but  a  little  while  before  her  departure, 
June  2,  1859,  bequeathing  five  thousand  dollars 
towards  the  building  of  oar  church-home.  The 
choice  of  the  situation  won  favor.  Under  the  di- 
rection of  our  chosen  architect,  Griffith  Thomas, 
the  corner-stone  of  the  edifice  was  laid  on  a  pleas- 


28o  LIFE  NOTES, 

ant  afternoon,  October,  1859;  and  the  discourse 
of  dedication  (text,  2  Chron.  vii.  5)  was  delivered 
to  a  thronged  house  on  a  bright  Sunday  morning, 
Jan.  6,  1861,  just  two  days  after  the  national  ob- 
servance of  the  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  called 
for  by  President  Buchanan  in  view  of  the  dreaded 
signs  of  civil  war.  The  songs  that  cheered  us  at 
the  laying  of  the  corner-stone,  under  a  sunny  sky, 
were  all  in  lively  harmony  with  our  hopes  of  pre- 
vailing peace ;  but  on  the  day  of  dedication  the 
portents  that  darkened  the  political  firmament 
awakened  forebodings  that  no  orchestral  music, 
grand  as  it  was,  could  utterly  dispel.  A  note 
received  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Richard  Fuller  of 
Baltimore,  responsive  to  our  request  that  he  would 
preach  for  us  on  the  evening  of  the  dedication 
day,  indicated  a  kindred  feeling,  thus  expressed: 
"Thanks  for  your  invitation;  I  cannot  now  leave 
home.  You  have  built  your  walls  in  trouldous 
times.  May  God  show  unto  us  his  great  salva- 
tion." 

THE   ERA   OF   NATIONAL   BEWILDER:MENT. 

On  the  Monday  following  our  festival  of  dedica- 
tion, the  opening  sermon  was  published  in  "  The 
New- York  World,"  Jan.  7 ;  and  within  three  days 
afterwards  the  same  journal  announced  the  first 
rebel-shot,  at  the  mouth   of  Charleston   Harbor, 


STUDYING    THE  SIGNS  OF   THE    TIMES.     28 1 

upon  the  steamship  "  Star  of  the  West,"  sent  from 
New  York  with  supplies  for  the  garrison  at  Fort 
Sumter,  thus  compelling  her  to  return  humiliated 
hy  failure  to  fulfil  her  commission.  Only  twelve 
weeks  intervened  ere  the  Confederates'  attack 
upon  Sumter,  and  the  capitulation  of  the  heroic 
garrison,  unified  the  Free  States  as  a  war-power 
for  the  Union.  At  once,  in  answer  to  the  call  of 
President  Lincoln,  seventy-five  thousand  men 
sprang  to  arms ;  and  within  another  month  eighty- 
three  tliousand  men  were  arrayed  for  service 
during  the  war.  Yet  within  less  than  two  months 
came  the  terrible  defeat  of  our  army  at  Bull 
Run,  interpreted  by  millions  as  the  portent  of 
national  doom,  thus  intensifying  the  feeling  of  de- 
spondency. 

The  year  1862  opened  with  the  most  gloomy 
prospects.  The  banks  of  the  Northern  States 
were  forced  to  suspend  "specie  payments,"  fol- 
lowed, of  course,  by  the  United  States  Treasury, 
whose  requisitions  on  the  banks  in  the  struggle 
for  money  had  been  the  chief  cause  of  their  sus- 
pension. The  financial  situation,  now  so  dark, 
became  darker  still  after  the  failure  of  our  army 
before  Richmond  in  July.  There  were  no  grounds 
of  calculation  as  to  financial  issues ;  for  the  United 
States  Treasury  note,  or  greenback,  had  not  then 
obtained  the  imperial  credit-power  wherewith  it 


282  LIFE  NOTES. 

now  commands  universal  confidence.  There  was, 
in  fact,  nothing  financial  worthy  to  be  called  a 
currency.  We  were  paying  our  street-car  fares 
with  postal-stamps.  The  situation  was  unprece- 
dented. All  alike,  rich  and  poor,  in  all  relations 
of  life,  —  as  individuals,  families,  or  corporations, 
—  were  in  need,  without  any  money  to  pay  our 
debts.  Just  then,  in  our  church  relations,  the 
dilemma  was  exceptionally  bewildering :  for,  while 
heavy  bills  were  due,  the  law  of  the  State  of  New 
York  gave  to  the  holders  thereof,  contractors,  a 
lien  upon  the  property;  thus  putting  all  of  it 
within  the  power  of  creditors,  who,  for  aught  we 
knew,  might  be  pressed,  in  unanticipated  condi- 
tions, to  "  do  something  desperate,"  and  precipitate 
a  sacrifice. 

PROPOSAL  OF  UNION  AS  A  MEANS   OF   STRENGTH. 

It  was  in  this  chaotic  state  of  affairs  that  an 
incidental  remark  from  an  excellent  man,  widely 
known  in  circles  of  business  pertaining  both  to 
the  capital  and  the  metropolis,  wealthy  and  gener- 
ous, Mr.  Clark  Durant,  determined  my  steps  sud- 
denly along  a  new  line  of  direction.  He  had 
saluted  me  on  a  certain  bright  morning  a  few 
months  before,  near  his  residence  in  Madison 
Avenue  ;  and  there,  taking  from  his  pocket-book 
several   hundred   dollars  in   a   package  of  bank- 


STUDYING    THE  SIGNS  OF   THE    TIMES.     2 S3 

notes,  he  placed  them  in  my  hand,  saying,  "I  have 
noticed  your  church-movement  with  deep  interest. 
You  want  money,  of  course.  Please  hand  this  to 
your  treasurer.  I  do  not  care  for  a  receipt,  but 
hope  to  be  on  hand  to  accommodate  myself  with 
a  pew  erelong,  and  then  will  make  it  all  right 
with  the  trustees."  At  that  time  the  financial  sky 
was  not  so  densely  overcast.  Now,  however,  hap- 
pening to  meet  near  the  same  place  again,  he 
hailed  me  again,  though  not  in  the  same  inspiring 
tone.  "You  are  welcome  to  the  money  I  gave 
you  here  for  the  church :  but  I  know  not  when  I 
may  be  able  to  take  a  pew ;  for,  indeed,  I  do  not 
know  that  I  shall  be  worth  five  hundred  dollars 
to-morrow,  and  I  don't  know  who  knows  that  lie 
will !  "  That  exclamation,  in  its  connections,  vivi- 
fied my  sense  of  the  situation,  the  uncertainties 
of  the  morrow.  I  soon  repeated  it  to  Mr.  Mil- 
bank,  the  deacons,  and  other  friends,  as  being 
notably  significant  as  to  the  outlook ;  and,  before 
the  sunset  of  that  day,  I  had  turned  my  steps 
towards  the  old  familiar  church-homestead  in 
Oliver  Street,  was  welcomed  to  the  study  of  the 
pastor,  Rev.  Dr.  Weston,  and  there,  with  Mr. 
Durant's  words  for  a  text,  urged  my  conviction 
that  the  exigency  of  the  time,  requiring  union  for 
the  sake  of  strength,  made  it  advisable  that  our 
historic  parental  church  should  follow  the  beck  of 


284  LIFE  NOTES. 

Providence  leading  her  steps  "  up  town,"  to  join 
the  young  church  that  had  pioneered  her  way, 
placing  tliere  the  avails  of  her  real  estate  as  an 
anchorage  against  the  war-storm  that  had  already 
swept  away  every  dollar  from  the  nation's  treas- 
ury, and  was  still  ravaging  the  whole  land.  I 
added  the  suggestion,  that,  if  the  churches  could 
thus  be  brought  together  in  organic  unity,  I  would 
readily  resign,  at  the  proper  moment,  my  pastoral 
relation,  —  a  step  which  the  state  of  my  health  had 
rendered  desirable,  —  and  leave  to  him  the  j^astoral 
care,  with  heartfelt  prayers  for  the  speedy  restora- 
tion of  peace  and  progress. 

In  regard  to  these  views  the  pastors  were  of  one 
accord,  and  erelong  were  assured  of  a  practical 
unanimity  of  sentiment  on  the  part  of  the  two 
churches.  As  soon  as  I  became  satisfied  touching 
this  issue,  I  hastened  to  resign  my  pastoral  charge, 
with  the  view  not  only  of  simplifying  the  process 
of  unification,  but  also  of  regaining  my  health, 
already  impaired  by  the  environment  of  excep- 
tional cares  that  had  increased  since  the  national 
Fast  Day,  so  closely  associated  historically  with 
our  Dedication  Day,  at  the  beginning  of  tlie  pre- 
ceding year.  Hence,  on  the  24th  of  July,  1862,  I 
presented  my  resignation,  which,  after  prolonged 
consideration,  was  accepted,  to  take  effect  on  the 
first  day  of  September. 


STUDYING    THE   SIGNS  OF   THE    TIMES.     285 


THE   ORGANIC   UNION  CONSUIVIMATED. 

The  .measures,  conferential  and  legal,  requisite 
to  unification,  moved  on  smoothly.  On  the  first 
day  of  August  the  Madison-avenue  Church  pre- 
sented a  communication  to  the  Oliver-street 
Church,  requesting  the  appointment  of  a  commit- 
tee to  meet  a  committee  of  the  Madison-avenue 
Church  for  conference  on  the  subject  of  a  union 
of  the  churches.  The  consummation  was  reached 
on  the  22d  of  October,  when  the  Oliver-street 
Church,  having  engaged  to  change  its  name  to 
that  of  the  Madison-avenue,  and  the  property  of 
Madison-avenue  having  been  deeded  to  the  Oliver- 
street  Church,  in  order  to  form  a  union  of  the  two 
churches  on  an  equal  basis,  the  clerk  of  the  ]\Iadi- 
son-avenue  presented  a  list,  with  certificates  of  its 
correctness,  containing  the  names  of  two  hundred 
and  twenty-one  members,  who  were  all  received  at 
once  into  the  membership  of  the  Oliver-street 
Church  by  unanimous  resolution.  This  form  of 
'^  fusion  "  was  adopted  as  the  most  fitting,  in  order 
to  preserve  certain  reversionary  rights  of  property 
pertaining  to  the  organism  of  the  older  church. 

By  this  arrangement  I  re-entered  the  member- 
ship of  the  Oliver-street  Church,  temporarily, 
thirty-seven  years  after  my  baptismal  union  with 
it  in  1825. 


286  LIFE   NOTES. 


ALTERNATrOXS    OF   MISTRUST   AND    HOPEFULNESS. 

Although  a  feeling  of  bewilderment  as  to  tlie 
financial  situation  of  the  country,  inducing,  as  it 
did,  an  undefined  dread  of  liability  to  a  great  sac- 
rifice or  loss  of  property,  impelled  me  to  urge  the 
acceptance  of  my  resignation  in  connection  with 
the  plea  for  union  as  a  safeguard,  it  is  worthy  of 
remembrance  that  the  men  representing  the  young 
church  in  Madison  Avenue  never  indicated  a  like 
degree  of  exceptional  disturbance :  they  rather 
counselled  patient  waiting,  passive  and  trustful 
endurance  of  the  troubles  incidental  to  the  time, 
as  they  might  come,  day  by  day,  one  by  one,  as- 
sured of  our  sliaring  the  financial  recuperation  that 
must  also  come  in  its  season.  In  this  line  of  di- 
rection their  hopefulness  was  stronger  than  mine, 
discerning  more  clearly  the  possibilities  of  the 
United  States'  treasuryship  under  tlie  administra- 
tion of  Secretary  Chase.  At  the  same  time,  my 
confidence  in  the  military  triumph  of  "  the  Union 
Cause "  always  asserted  itself  in  the  superlative 
degree,  so  that  I  did  not  share  their  gloomy  de- 
spondency caused  by  the  defeat  of  our  army  at 
Bull  Run;  but,  taking  my  texts  from  certain  ex- 
periences of  ancient  Israel  recorded  in  the  closing 
chapters  of  the  Book  of  Judges,  interpreted  that 
defeat,  and  others  afterward,  as  a  divinely  disci- 


STUDYING    THE  SIGNS  OF   THE    TIMES.     28/ 

plinary  education  for  the  victories  in  reserve  for  us 
when  duly  prepared  to  use  them  aright,  in  accord- 
ance witli  the  grand  aim  of  the  Messianic  kingdom, 
still  a  living  power  upon  the  earth.  In  recalling 
my  tone  of  thought  or  speech  at  that  period,  I  can 
truly  say,  that,  without  variation,  it  was  joyously 
exultant.  Yet,  as  to  the  speedy  resuscitation  of 
the  national  finances,  of  an  adequate  currency, 
their  faith  or  foresight  was  clear,  while  mine  was 
comparatively  dim.  Hence,  when,  after  the  close 
of  the  war,  T  passed  through  New  York  on  my  way 
back  from  St.  Louis  to  my  home  in  Boston,  and 
saw  Mr.  Milbank  at  his  office,  while  referring  to 
the  past,  he  exclaimed  in  a  gentle,  saddened  tone, 
"In  letting  you  go  from  us  as  we  did,  we  dis- 
trusted God;  but  in  going  from  us  as  you  did, 
you  distrusted  God  and  man  both  I  "  The  saying 
w^as  aptly  put,  describing  "the  situation"  as  it 
loomed  up  retrospectively. 

STARTLSG-POINT   OF   THE   UNION   MOVEMENT. 

In  this  connection  it  is  fitting  to  observe  that 
at  different  times  since  this  union  of  the  two 
churches  "  on  an  equal  basis  "  was  consummated, 
allusions  have  been  made  to  the  transaction  in 
several  public  prints,  as  if  the  young  church  in 
Madison  Avenue  had  given  up  all  hope  of  ever 
paying  its  debts,  and  thence  had  ^old  its  property 


288  LIFE  NOTES. 


to  the  Oliver-street  Cliurch  in  order  to  escape  the 
pressure  of  the  pecuniary  liabilities  it  had  too 
hastily  incurred.  Had  "  the  situation "  been  as 
thus  hastily  described,  and  deliverance  from  debt- 
pressure  the  main  aim,  the  young  church  had  the 
best  possible  opportunity  for  taking  care  of  itself 
when  the  representatives  of  the  neighboring  parish, 
"  The  Church  of  the  Incarnation,"  under  the 
rectorship  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Montgomery,  neediiig 
more  space  than  the  limits  of  their  beautiful  temple 
would  allow  (corner  of  Madison  Avenue  and 
Twenty-eighth  Street),  proposed  to  exchange  loca- 
tions with  the  Madison-avenue  Church,  on  the 
corner  of  Thirty-first  Street,  and  pay  the  balance 
in  gold  treasured  up  by  them  for  the  realization  of 
their  cherished  purpose.  The  acceptance  of  their 
offer  would  have  placed  the  young  Madison  Church 
in  a  pleasant  home,  near  at  hand,  free  from  all 
financial  anxiety  whatsoever.  But  our  answer  was, 
that  the  proposal  could  not  be  entertained,  as  we 
recognized  no  such  stress  of  necessity  as  would 
require  us  to  subject  our  church-home  to  any  use 
differing  from  that  for  which  it  was  originally 
designed.  This  one  fact  tells  its  own  plain  story, 
and  refutes  the  suggestion  that  the  young  church, 
in  its  movement  for  organic  union,  sought  escape 
from  immediate  financial  pressure  as  its  predomi- 
nant aim.     Noting  these  early  years  of  the  war 


STUDYING    THE  SIGNS  OF  THE    TIMES.     289 

from  my  point  of  retrovspective  view,  I  am  led  to 
affirm,  in  this  connection,  that  I  liad  never  known 
any  thing  of  a  proposal  for  this  union  until  it 
first  proceeded  from  myself  to  Mr.  Milbank,  Mr. 
Abbe,  and  others  of  the  trustees ;  and,  in  urging 
it  onward  under  the  impulsion  of  startling  events, 
I  was  but  aiming  to  realize  the  long-cherished 
hope  of  seeing  the  church  of  "  my  first  love  "  in 
youthful  days  established  in  a  permanent  abode, 
renewing  its  youth,  and  rejoicing  to  enter  the  new 
fields  so  rich  in  promises  of  enduring  fruitage. 

"  UNITY  OF  THE   SPIRIT  IN  THE  BOND  OF   PEACE." 

The  union  of  the  two  churches  was  felt  by  all 
to  be  a  concentration  of  strength,  and  a  relief  from 
an  exceptional  pressure  of  care  pertaining  to  the 
time.  Before  the  close  of  the  year,  however,  there 
were  serious  questionings  started  on  the  part  of 
the  younger  body  as  to  the  fulfilment  of  that  main 
condition  of  union  that  had  been  indicated  in  the 
compact  by  the  clause  "on  an  equal  basis."  These 
questionings  were  not  composed  satisfactorily,  and 
issued  in  legal  litigations,  but  were  ended  in  1881 
by  separation  upon  accepted  terms,  —  the  retention 
of  the  edifice  by  the  younger  body,  and  their  pay- 
ment of  sixty-five  thousand  dollars  to  the  older. 
At  the  time  of  this  writing,  both  churches,  — the 
older,  known  as  the  Baptist  Church  of  the  Epiph- 


290  LIFE  NOTES. 

any,  Rev.  Joseph  F.  Elder,  D.D.,  pastor;  the 
younger  as  the  Madison-avenue  Baptist  Church, 
under  the  ministry  of  Rev.  C.  DeWitt  Bridgman, 
D.D.,  —  having  interchanged  expressions  of  frater- 
nal feeling  and  Christian  fellowship,  are  recognized 
"  fellow-helpers  to  the  truth,"  effective  co-workers 
in  the  promotion  of  "  the  common  faith." 


OUR  EPILOGUE    WITH  ITS  EPISODES.       29] 


XXII. 

OUR   EPILOGUE   WITH   ITS   EPISODES. 
PRIMARY    PURPOSE   OF   THE    "LIFE   NOTES." 

The  aim  of  the  writer,  in  sending  forth  this 
series  of  notings,  was  not,  in  the  main,  the  make- 
up of  an  autobiography.  The  conception  of  "a 
man's  writing  memoirs  of  himself  "  has  never,  in 
any  musings  just  now  remembered,  found  accept- 
ance, or  seemed  attractive,  except  where  the 
life-work  had  been  the  exponent  of  some  historic 
specialty.  Apart  from  this  condition,  it  is  safe 
for  a  man  to  treat  the  notion  of  becoming  his  own 
biographer  as  akin  to  "a  siren's  Avhisper,"  and 
have  a  care  "  lest  he  enter  into  temptation." 

Nevertheless,  when  one  in  prolonged  public 
service  has  been  permitted  to  pass  the  set  boun- 
dary of  threescore  years  and  ten,  it  is  quite  likely 
that  many  in  the  prime  of  life,  sustaining  to  him 
intimate  relations  of  friendship  as  well  as  of  "  kith 
and  kin,"  would  wish  to  know  how  the  outlook 
of  men  and  things  looming  up  within  his  range  of 
view   had   indicated   their   real   significance,  and 


292  LIFE  NOTES. 

been  characterized  in  his  afterthoughts.  Thus, 
after  having  "served  his  own  generation,"  and 
then  entered  into  new  official  rehitions  with  the 
generation  following,  this  series  was  begun,  with 
no  intention,  however,  of  extending  it  beyond  the 
salient  j)oints  pertaining  to  that  "thirty  years' 
course  "  long  accepted  as  the  numerical  limit  of 
one  generation's  lifetime.  Such  a  review  of  one's 
public  life-course  and  its  surroundings  must,  nor- 
mally, take  in  many  particulars  that  are  quite  apt 
to  meet  the  needs  of  young  inquirers  pertaining  to 
their  preceding  generation,  the  knowledge  where- 
of, indeed,  could  be  derived  from  no  other  source. 
Kegarded  from  the  stand-point  of  my  original 
purpose  in  relation  to  the  record  of  my  official 
or  ministerial  career,  the  limitation  of  that  record 
is  almost  chronologically  identical  with  the  clos- 
ing of  my  ministry  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

CALLED   BACK   TO   OLD   FIELDS    OF   SERVICE. 

The  announcement  of  my  having  given  up  my 
metropolitan  work  into  the  hands  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Weston,  now  president  of  Crozier  Theological 
Seminary,  Chester,  Penn.,  drew  forth  immediately 
a  call  back  to  Boston  as  pastor  of  the  Third 
Baptist  Church,  in  whose  ministry  the  Rev. 
Daniel  Sharp,  D.D.,  had  wrought  out  the  most 
effective  part  of  his  life-work,  followed  by  Rev. 


OUR  EPILOGUE    WITH  ITS  EPISODES. 


293 


Dr.   Stockbridge,   Eesthetically  akin,   whose  work 
of    several    years    was    signalized    by    enduring 
spiritual   fruitage.     That    call   I   accepted   under 
the  sway  of  a  sympathetic  interest  that  liad  been 
a  growth  of  years  from  early  childliood,  when  Dr. 
Sharp  was  wont  to  visit  the  home  of  his  youthful 
manhood  in   New  York,  where  he  had  attracted 
around   him    a   circle    of    young   admirers.      Im- 
pressed with  the  fact  that  lie  had  also  not  only 
served   lih  generation,    but    that   the    one    next 
following  had  passed  away,  and  that  now,  in  one 
of  the  darkest  periods  of  the  war-storm,  the  call 
of  that  church  — the  home-church  of  my  choice 
\i\  the  days  of  my  student-life  at  Newton  — had 
come  to  me,  I  was  inclined  to  accept  it  at  once ; 
the  more   so,   certainly,   while   remembering   that 
my  former  connections  with  associations  organized 
111  Boston  for  co-operative  service  in  the  cause  of 
Freedom  and  the  Union  still  furnished  facilities 
for  effective   work   that  emphasized  every  other 
motive  for  my  acceptance.     The  two  objects  of 
supreme   interest,   the   cause  of  self-ruling  Chris- 
tianity and  the  cause  of  the  nationality,  seemed 
for  the  time  identical,  and  destined  to  be  cele- 
brated by  the  same  song   of  thanksgiving.     So, 
indeed,  has  it  been.     A  significant  fact  it  is,  that 
the  Sunday-school  song  beginning  with  the  line, 
"My  country,   'tis  of  thee,"  by  Rev.  Dr.  S.  F 


294  L^P^   NOTES. 

Smith,  has  been  adopted  by  the  American  mil- 
lions as  the  fit  expression  of  both  patriotism  and 
religion. 

REGULAR  PEN-WORK  DURING  THE  WAR. 

In  consonance  with  this  trend  of  thought  and 
feeling  was  my  regular  pen-work,  week  by  week, 
of  sending  forth,  through  the  columns  of  "  The 
Watchman,"  a  series  of  "  Watclmotes,"  begun  in 
New  York  at  the  opening  of  the  war,  and  contin- 
ued almost  uninterruptedly  to  its  close  in  1865. 
It  was  not  my  intention  at  the  start,  wlien  ac- 
cepting Dr.  Olmstead's  proposal,  made  to  me  in 
New  York,  to  keep  myself  en  rapj)ort  with  Boston, 
to  write  so  frequently.  But,  in  fact,  there  was 
no  quiet  escape  from  a  unique  kind  of  call  that 
seemed  sacredly  imperative ;  for  erelong  mes- 
sages were  sent  to  me  from  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, —  from  the  bereaved  or  desponding,  from 
widoAvs,  from  mothers  whose  sons  were  away  in 
the  army,  from  invalids  wdio  were  confined  at 
home,  to  whom  the  outlook  was  sadly  dim,  —  all 
assigning  essentially  one  reason  for  the  request 
that  the  series  should  be  continued  ;  namely,  this : 
"  Our  homes  seem  the  darker  if  we  miss  one  of 
them,  because  they  have  always  brought  fresh 
cheer,  and  brightened  our  hopes  of  the  future." 
Every    one     of    these    messages    awakened    the 


OUR  EPILOGUE    WITH  ITS  EPISODES.       295 

deepest  sympathy,  and  became  an  impelling  power. 
I  was  gladdened  by  the  reminders,  that,  from  the 
day  the  Sumter  gun  was  fired,  I  had  never  known 
a  moment  of  doubt  as  to  the  ultimate  victory, 
assured  that  the  overthrow  of  the  slave-power  was 
involved  in  the  destinations  of  the  Messiah's 
kingdom. 

There  were  messages,  too,  from  the  army,  from 
soldiers  unknown  to  me.  One  communication, 
particularly,  presented  itself  to  memory,  recog- 
nizing the  justness  of  the  "  Watchnote  "  that  had 
represented  the  views  of  the  soldiers  in  a  recent 
discussion  with  another  journal,  conveying  to  me 
in  a  decided  tone  the  sympathetic  sentiment  of 
the  company.  Incidentally,  of  late,  I  learned 
that  the  writer  was  Rev.  William  jNIacwhinney, 
minister  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Cambridge, 
who  still  carries  with  him,  in  tlie  uneven  step  of 
his  gait,  a  reminder  of  the  conflict  shared  by  camp 
companions,  who  shared  also,  as  we  apprehend,  a 
common  faith  in  the  destinations  of  the  Messiah's 
kingdom,  and  thence  in  the  mission  of  this  Union 
for  all  humanity. 

Indeed,  this  sentiment  I  cannot  emphasize  too 
strongly  as  an  element  of  manifold  power  pertain- 
ing to  that  period,  a  cherished  realization  in  many 
a  personal  experience.  The  distinctive  idea,  the 
inspiring  belief  here  noted,  is  not  a  mere  accept- 


296  LIFE  NOTES. 

aiice  of  an  inherited  theism,  or  doctrine  of  a 
universal  mind-power  as  an  overruling  Provi- 
dence, but  it  comprises  a  clear  conception  of  the 
Divine  Messiah  as  the  ruler  of  a  moral  kingdom, 
whose  aim  and  issue  are  to  be  realized  as  the 
supremacy  of  truth  and  righteousness.  In  accord- 
ance with  this  view  is  my  remembrance  of  what 
seemed  at  the  time  one  of  tlie  gloomiest  days  of 
the  war,  when  our  announcement  of  a  Sunday- 
evening  sermon  at  Tremont  Temple  (entitled  as 
if  mockingly,  according  to  the  seeming,  "The 
Brightening  Outlook  "  )  was  responded  to  by  a 
thronging  audience.  The  text  was  drawn  from 
the  prophet  Isaiah  (xxi.  11,  12)  :  ''  Watchman, 
what  of  the  night?  Watchman,  what  of  the 
night?  The  Avatchman  said,  Tlie  morning  cometh, 
and  also  the  night,"  etc.  The  adjustment  of  the 
subject  to  the  time  was  in  showing  that  the  exist- 
ence of  the  Messiah's  kingdom  upon  the  earth, 
admitted  as  a  reality,  and  verified  historically,  in- 
volved the  establishment  of  the  American  Union 
as  means  fitted  to  a  predestined  end.  The  signs 
of  a  divinely  subtle  preparation  for  this  grand 
issue,  and  the  moral  necessity  of  bringing  these 
prepared  elements  of  power  into  effective  play, 
seemed  to  shine  Avith  vivified  impression  at  every 
advancing  step,  and  to  unif}^  themselves  like  a 
self-revealing  truth.     Never  have  I  had  occasion 


OUR   EPILOGUE    WITH  ITS  EPISODES.       297 

to  observe  a  large  audience  more  thoroughly  in 
unison,  nor,  indeed,  to  see  so  clearly  how  mind 
itself,  suddenly  exultant  in  quick  sympathy  with 
hundreds,  seems  able  to  impart  electrically  a 
quickening  energy  to  the  atmosphere. 

"REPRESENTATIVE  OF  A  GENERATION." 

As  has  been  noted  above,  the  design  of  the 
"  Life  Notes,"  from  the  starting-point,  has  been  to 
aid  the  second,  or  perhaps  the  third,  generation  of 
my  contemporaries  to  answer  some  of  their  own 
inquiries  in  regard  to  the  preceding  one  that  had 
already  passed  from  their  range  of  social  relation- 
ships, and  thus  to  limit  the  series  by  or  near  the 
bounds  of  the  area  they  had  occupied.  Of  that 
first  generation  of  my  clerical  or  ministerial  con- 
temporaries, the  Rev.  Daniel  Sharp,  D.D.,  stood 
forth  an  accepted  representative,  as,  indeed.  Har- 
vard well  indicated  wdien,  by  the  conferring  of  her 
Doctor's  degree,  he  became  one  of  her  honorary 
alumni.  During  my  student-life  in  Newton  I 
was  often  called  to  be  his  assistant  in  the  pulpit; 
and  this  practically  became  a  kind  of  felt  relation, 
the  beginning  whereof  dates  back  to  the  year 
1828.  The  reckoning  of  a  generation,  thirty  years 
from  that  time,  1858,  places  me  amid  the  sur- 
roundings of  my  ministry  in  New- York  City. 
The   death   of    Dr.   Sharp,   after   a  pastorate   in 


298  LIFE  NOTES. 

Boston  of  forty-one  years'  duration,  signalized  an 
epochal  period  distinguished  by  the  highest  de- 
gree of  denominational  energy  in  effective  action, 
memorialized  by  the  establishment  of  a  home- 
centre  for  transacting  the  business  of  the  foreign 
missionary  work  and  by  the  founding  of  the 
Newton  theological  institution.  The  departure  of 
his  widow,  Mrs.  Ann  Cauldwell  Sharp,  occurred 
Nov.  18,  1864;  and,  as  the  Divine  Overruler  of 
our  forecasting^  had  led  me  into  the  pastorate 
of  the  Third  Church,  I  was  favored  with  oppor- 
tunities to  visit  her  occasionally,  to  minister  to 
the  mental  needs  incidental  to  her  last  sickness, 
and  also  to  listen  to  her  cheerful  recognitions  of 
the  divine  ordering  that  the  last  of  the  ministra- 
tions pertaining  to  her  earthly  existence  should 
be  fulfilled  by  one  whose  presence  awakened 
pleasant  memories  of  many  more  associated  with 
a  cherished  home  history.  Her  expressions,  so 
retrospective,  seemed,  indeed,  to  be  apt  sugges- 
tions of  one  who  was  uttering  representatively  the 
tender  farewell  of  her  own  generation,  leaving 
me  to  transmit  what  I  knew  of  its  life-story  to 
the  generation  following,  as  a  normal  heritage. 

THE   BIRTH-YEAR    OF   VASSAR   COLLEGE. 

In  addition  to  the  reported  points  of  historic 
interest  pertaining  to  my  ministry  in  the  metropo- 


OUR   EPILOGUE    WITH  ITS  EPISODES.       299 

lis,  I  would  here  note,  witliin  the  scope  of  our 
retrospective  outlook,  one  object  of  world-wide 
regard,  whose  unprecedented  beginnings  attracted 
much  sympathetic  interest;  namely,  Vassar  Col- 
lege, for  the  education  of  young  women. 

From  the  early  days  of  student-life,  my  friendly 
relations  with  Matthew  Yassar,  Esq.,  led  me 
often  to  Poughkeepsie,  and  furnished  occasions 
for  that  kind  of  social  home-talk  which  reveals 
one's  interior  trend  of  thought  and  most  deeply 
cherished  aspirations.  For  several  successive 
years,  while  Mr.  Vassar  was  much  engaged  in 
observing  and  deliberating  without  determination 
of  purpose,  he  was  favored  with  the  genial  com- 
panionship and  apt  counselling  of  Professor  Milo 
P.  Jewett,  a  successful  educator,  whose  aid  in 
unifying  thought  to  concentration  of  aim  and 
effective  issues,  was,  I  may  say,  a  real  godsend. 
Despite  great  difficulties  or  seeming  impossibili- 
ties amid  the  storms  of  war,  the  college  opened  its 
doors,  initiating  its  course  tentatively,  and  at  the 
end  of  sixteen  years  saw  the  diplomas  borne  by 
her  alumuce  honored  by  the  educators  of  Eng- 
land as  promptly  and  cordially  as  those  borne  by 
the  alumni  of  Harvard. 

The  significance  of  these  statements  may  be 
illustrated  by  a  glance  over  the  pages  of  a  tour- 
ist's journal.     In  November,  1874,  I  was  crossing 


300  LIFE   NOTES. 

the  Atlantic  in  the  steamer  "  Russia,"  and  there  was 
favored  with  the  company  of  Hon.  David  Chad- 
wick,  M.P.  (of  the  house  of  Chadwick,  Collier,  & 
Co.,  London  and  Manchester),  homeward  bound 
from  California,  who  informed  me  that  lie  had 
taken  time  to  visit  Vassar  College,  and  had  brought 
away  the  pamphlet  that  was  in  his  hand,  shoAving 
me  a  catalogue.  In  reply  to  my  inquiry,  ''  Have 
you  brought  av/ay  nothing  more  ?  "  he  said  that 
he  had  not.  Having  asked  him  to  excuse  my 
absence  for  a  moment,  I  soon  carried  to  him  from 
my  trunk  a  copy  of  Dr.  Benson  J.  Lossing's  illus- 
trated "  History  of  Vassar  College,"  quarto  form, 
and  requested  him  to  accept  it.  He  was  so  greatly 
interested,  that  he  read  it  to  his  family  at  home, 
and  then  presented  it  to  Professor  HolloAvay,  who 
had  already  avowed  his  purpose  to  do  for  the 
young  women  of  England  all  that  Vassar  had 
done  for  those  of  America,  and  had  paid  twenty- 
five  thousand  pounds  for  an  estate  at  Egham,  near 
Windsor,  as  a  site  for  a  college,  with  this  view. 
He  was  now  about  to  call  together  a  meeting  of  a 
number  of  the  educators  of  England,  in  order  to 
avail  himself  of  advisory  aid.  Having  noticed  in 
Lossiiig's  ''History"  the  address  which  I  was  called 
to  make  on  behalf  of  the  newly  incorporated 
trustees,  responsive  to  Mr.  Vassar's  presentation 
of  "his  securities,"  and  declaring  our  acceptance 


OUR  EPILOGUE    WITH  ITS  EPISODES.       3OI 

of  the  trust,  he  sent  me  a  message,  through  Mr. 
Chadwick  personally,  expressing  the  desire  that 
I  would  remain  in  London  a  fortnight  longer, 
with  the  view  of  meeting  the  gathering  of  edu- 
cators from  all  parts  of  England.  I  consented 
to  do  so,  and  at  the  set  hour  met  a  company  of 
about  twenty-five  (as  memory  pictures  it)  des- 
ignated educators,  known  as  teachers,  authors, 
editors,  lecturers,  specialists,  professional  men^  and 
ladies  also,  including  Mrs.  Fawcett,  whose  fame 
is  international.  At  the  proper  moment  Mr. 
Hollo  way  rose,  and  in  a  few  fitting  words  thus 
drew  the  attention  of  all  to  the  business  of  the 
hour : — 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  —  You  are  all  aware  that  for 
a  considerable  time  past  I  have  had  in  view  the  accom- 
plishment of  a  work  that  commends  itself  to  us  all  as  a 
matter  of  common  interest,  pertaining  to  the  provision  of 
a  higher  education  for  the  young  women  of  England.  Of 
the  chief  end  and  special  aims  of  this  work  I  have  a  satis- 
factorily clear  conception  that  impels  me  onward;  but  my 
course  of  life  has  not  been  such  as  to  qualify  me,  in  the 
administration  practically  of  particulars  and  details,  to 
realize  my  own  ideal.  Thence  I  invoke  your  sympathy  in 
attempting  to  carry  into  effect  my  cherished  purpose.  Li 
this  line  of  direction  I  have  been  incited  to  promptness  as 
well  as  decision  by  the  example  that  has  beeu  given  by  a 
younger  nation  of  English-speaking  people. 


302  LIFE   NOTES. 

At  this  point,  directing  attention  to  Lossing's 
"  History  of  Vassar  College,"  that  lay  conspicu- 
ously upon  the  table,  he  said, — 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  America  has  gone  before  ns  in 
this  hitherto  untrodden  path ;  has  unconsciously  appealed 
to  us  by  her  own  brilliant  achievement ;  has  thrown  us  into 
the  shade ;  has,  indeed,  made  us  ashamed  of  ourselves. 

To  this  the  whole  company  assented,  respond- 
ing applausively.  Never  before  had  it  been  my 
fortune  to  see  a  gathering  of  cultivated  English 
people  assent  by  acclamation  to  any  claim  of 
American  superiority  within  any  range  of  com- 
parison that  gave  scope  for  rivalry. 

Mr.  Holloway  then  introduced  me  to  the  com- 
pany, with  the  request  that  I  would  indicate  some 
particulars  in  regard  to  the  earliest  beginnings  of 
Vassar;  and  thus  I  was  led  to  note  a  few  points  of 
history  in  regard  to  the  structure  of  the  curricu- 
lum^ and  the  special  gifts  that  qualified  the  organ- 
izing president.  Rev.  John  H.  Raymond,  LL.D.,  to 
guide  the  thinking  of  the  first  students,  to  inspire 
them  with  the  sentiments  and  aspirations,  as  well 
as  the  knowledge  of  principles,  that  enabled  them, 
in  constituting  the  four  classes,  to  realize  his  ideal. 

PRIVATE   CONFERENCE   ON   ORGANIZATION. 

At  the  close  of  the  meeting  Mr.  Holloway  in- 
quired if  I  could  give  him  the  opportunity  of  a 


OUR  EPILOGUE    WITH  ITS  EPISODES.       303 

private  interview  for  more  extended  conversation. 
The  hour  of  two  p.m.  the  following  Saturday,  at  the 
Holborn  office,  were  made  the  set  time  and  place. 
The  two  hours'  talk  touched  many  things  inci- 
dentally suggested,  but  mainly  organization ;  fur- 
nishing occasion  for  me  to  object  against  electing 
ex-officio  persons,  ''  heads  of  colleges,"  as  members 
of  his  college  government,  and  to  indicate  the  idea 
that  Mr.  Vassar  had  followed  out,  "  to  a  degree," 
in  making  up  his  chartered  corporation :  namel}^ 
the  union,  first  of  all,  of  educators ;  then,  secondly, 
men  of  business  sufficiently  well  educated  to  dis- 
cern and  appreciate  the  ideas  of  the  educators,  and 
actualize  them  effectively.  As  representatives  of 
the  two  classes,  there  happened  to  be  present  to 
my  thought  President  Martin  B.  Anderson,  LL.D., 
and  Nathan  Bishop,  LL.D.,  of  the  first  class  ;"  Hon. 
James  Harper  and  Smith  Sheldon,  publishers,  of 
the  second;  adding  tlie  remark,  that,  if  I  knew 
England  as  well  as  America,  I  could  illustrate  the 
guiding  thought  of  that  combination  in  connection 
with  all  parts  of  the  land.  As  that  was  not  the 
case,  however,  I  said  that  I  would  follow  the 
suggestion  of  a  certain  latent  analogy,  without 
stopping  to  explain,  and  note  the  name  of  Dean 
Stanley  as  one  widely  representative  of  a  class 
that  are  trustworthy  as  to  their  judgments  on 
every  question   that  comes  before  them,  on  the 


304  L^FE  NOTES. 

ground  of  their  own  well-balance cl  individual 
personality,  not  to  be  shaken  or  reshaped  l)y  any 
prejudice  of  partyism,  churchly  or  anti-churchl}^ 
After  a  moment's  consideration,  Mr.  Holloway 
replied,  expressing  his  agreement  with  the  views 
set  forth,  and  commissioned  me  to  present  per- 
sonally to  Dean  Stanley,  on  his  behalf,  the  offer  of 
a  place  in  the  government  of  the  college. 

Having  accepted  this  trust,  I  proceeded  to  fulfil 
it  early  on  the  following  week.  At  four  p.m.  on 
the  Tuesday  or  Wednesday  I  sent  my  card  to  the 
Dean  in  his  library,  where,  fortunately,  he  was 
alone  and  at  leisure,  having  just  then  returned 
from  some  extra  service  in  the  Abbey.  The  con- 
versation began  by  my  referring  to  the  interest 
with  which  I  had  listened  to  his  discourse  on  the 
Sunday  preceding,  occasioned  by  the  death  of 
Charles  Kingsley.  "  Indeed  ? "  said  the  Dean, 
"  Were  you  in  the  audience  before  me  on  Sun- 
day?" He  then  turned  to  a  pile  of  pamphlets  that 
had  just  then  been  sent  in,  from  which  he  took 
one,  saying,  "There  is  only  one  proper  answer  to 
your  remark,"  as  he  inscribed  a  copy,  and  offered 
it  to  my  acceptance.  The  main  point  of  my  errand 
then  came  in,  —  the  offered  place  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  colleg^e.  The  Dean  called  forth  from 
me,  by  connected  statements  and  questioning,  a 
good  deal  of  minute  information  as  to  the  rise  and 


OUR  EPILOGUE    WITH  ITS  EPISODES.       305 

growth  of  Vassar  College,  and  the  influence  it  had 
exerted  upon  the  mind  of  the  founder  of  Holloway 
College.  As  to  all  that  was  personal,  he  highly 
appreciated  the  sentiment  expressed  by  the  pro- 
posal I  had  brought  to  him.  "  The  facts,"  he  said, 
"  are  significant  and  encouragingly  suggestive  of 
good  fruitage,"  but  added,  "■!  am  too  old,  too 
old  I  Things  of  this  order  must  now  be  left  to 
younger  men." 

LETTER   FROM  MR.   HOLLOWAY. 

A  short  time  before  leaving  England  the  follow- 
ing letter  was  received  from  Professor  Holloway ; 
and,  now  that  he  has  gone  from  us,  we  regard  it 
as  the  treasured  memento  of  a  man  to  whom 
Avealth  was  an  uplifting  power  and  an  educator 
of  manly  character. 

TiTTENHURST,   SUNXINGHILL,  April  8,  1876. 

Dear  Sir,  —  I  regret  to  think  I  was  not  in  London  at  the 
time  you  were  so  kind  as  to  call  at  Oxford  Street  and  leave 
your  card,  as  I  should  like  to  have  told  you  what  I  am  about 
as  regards  the  Holloway  College. 

Since  I  had  the  pleasure  to  see  you,  the  style  of  the  build- 
ing has  been  completely  changed.  Alterations  and  improve- 
ments have  Ijeen  suggested,  have  been  adopted  with  great 
care  ;  and  the  more  such  things  have  been  considered,  step  by 
step,  the  more  it  was  found  necessary  to  provide  for :  and 
this  has  been  going  on  for  a  considerable  time. 

Even  the  foundations  have  been  a  work  requiring  the 


306  LIFE   NOTES. 

architect's  serious  attention.  He  estimates  the  cost  of  the 
same,  carried  up  to  a  certain  point,  will  be  about  thirty-nine 
thousand  pounds.  It  is  believed  that  in  two  months  from 
this  time  the  contract  will  be  in  the  hands  of  one  of  the 
large  building-firms  ;  and,  when  once  they  are  fairly  started, 
the  work  will  be  carried  on  rapidly. 

I  again  take  this  opportunity  to  thank  you  most  cordially 
for  the  interest  you  are  pleased  to  take  in  this  work,  and  I 
trust  that  on  some  future  visit  to  this  country  you  may  be 
good  enough  to  look  at  what  is  being  done  in  this  way. 

I  am  truly  sorry  to  learn  that  you  have  had  a  severe 
attack  of  bronchitis  during  the  late  inclement  season.  I 
trust  you  are  now  in  the  enjoyment  of  perfect  health. 

When  returning  homewards,  allow  me  to  wish  you  a 
most  prospei-ous  voyage. 

I  remain,  my  dear  sir, 

Very  truly  yours, 

THOMAS  HOLLOW  AY. 
TuE  Rev,  William  Hague,  D.D. 

p.S. — You  may  perhaps  remember,  at  the  time  of  our 
meeting  at  Oxford  Street  with  several  friends,  I  left  it  to  be 
inferred  that  I  would  do  nothing  more  than  build  the 
college.  I  thought  that  was  saying  enough  at  the  time ;  but 
I  had  then,  as  now,  the  intention  of  endowing  it  with  the 
sum  of  a  hundred  thousand  pounds,  in  addition  to  providing 
it  with  every  requisite. 

This  communication  has  been  characterized  by 
a  friend  as  like  a  hxdy's  letter,  the  most  important 
matter  having  been  modestly  left  for  the  postscript. 
The  endowment  has  been  ample.     Holloway  Col- 


OUR   EPILOGUE    WITH  ITS  EPISODES.       307 

lege  has  been  opened  with  royal  magnificence,  it  is 
winning  appreciation  nationally  as  an  uplifting 
power,  and  we  cannot  but  hope  that  its  record 
throughout  the  lifetime  of  "the  generation  to 
come  "  may  be  brightened  by  manifold  proof  that 
the  ideal  of  the  founder  has  been  realized. 

A  CHRONOLOGICAL  ADJUSTMENT   NEEDED. 

The  Life  Note  numbered  XIII.  in  this  volume, 
having  been  issued  as  a  pamphlet  from  the  press 
of  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  New  York,  entitled 
"Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,"  has  in  that  form  received 
very  friendly  attentions  from  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes  in  his  Life  of  Emerson,  containing  kindly 
allusions  that  need  to  be  reconsidered  chronologi- 
cally, and  a  misjudgment  critically  noted.  A  little 
more  than  a  year  has  'now  passed  (including  the 
period  of  Dr.  Holmes's  absence  in  England)  since 
the  matter  was  noticed  by  the  editor  of  "The  New- 
York  Baptist  Weekly,"  Rev.  A.  S.  Patton,  D.D., 
formerly,  in  the  days  of  Mr.  Emerson's  prime,  a 
minister  and  resident  of  Watertown,  quite  familiar 
with  the  daily  driftings  of  thought  and  talk  in 
Old  Cambridge,  as  well  as  with  those  of  our  sur- 
roundings in  Boston.  He  entitled  his  review 
article,  which  I  find  on  the  first  page  of  the  num- 
ber issued  March  26,  1885,  "  Claiming  too  much 
for  Emerson ; "  and,  as  it  is  adequately  minute,  I 


308  LIFE   NOTES. 

venture  to  avail  myself  of  it,  as  suggestive  expla- 
nation, introducing  the  subject   thus:  — 

The  appearance  of  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes's  memoir  of 
Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  (seventh  of  the  series  of  '*  American 
Men  of  Letters,"  edited  by  Charles  Dudley  Warner)  has  been 
widely  welcomed,  especially  by  the  younger  class  of  general 
readers,  who  have  often  felt  the  need  of  help  in  their  efforts 
to  apprehend  as  a  unity  the  oracular  sentences  and  sugges- 
tive teachings  of  Emerson,  extending  over  the  area  of  fifty 
years  past,  and  calling  forth  continuous  discussion  as  to 
their  significance  or  real  outcome.  The  elements  of  special 
aptness  to  meet  this  need  have  been  exceptionally  combined 
in  Dr.  Holmes,  whose  sympathies  as  a  lifelong  friend  have 
not  predominated  so  far  as  to  interfere  with  the  exercise  of 
keen  discrimination  or  judicial  criticism. 

By  these  general  statements,  however,  it  is  not  intended 
to  imply  the  reliableness  of  Dr.  Holmes's  personal  judgments 
as  entirely  unexceptionable,  or,  to  intimate  that  he  has 
avoided  quite  perfectly  the  mistakes  of  several  preceding 
biographers,  who  have  estimated  the  advent  of  Emerson  as 
the  inauguration  of  a  reformatory  era  in  the  history  of  the 
human  intellect,  and  have  been  wont  to  trace  to  his  influence 
every  contemporaneous  element  of  ethic  or  aesthetic  thought, 
of  all  social  life  or  of  individual  character  worthy  of  special 
mention.  Some  of  these  mistakes  on  the  part  of  biograph- 
ical devotees,  Dr.  Holmes  has  effectively  corrected,  espe- 
cially in  showing  that  any  thing  like  leadership  in  the  front 
rank  of  the  aggressive  anti-slavery  men  can  never  be  justly 
attributed  to  Emerson  ;  and  yet  he  has  not  risen  superior 
to  the  liability  to  correctional  criticism  in  this  same  line  of 
direction. 

An   illustration  of  this   particular  trend  occurs   toward 


OUR  EPILOGUE    WITH  ITS  EPISODES.       309 

the  close  of  his  volume  (pp.  413,  414),  where  the  Doctor  is 
stating  summarily  the  import  of  Emersonianism,  proceeding 
thus :  "  Out  of  the  endless  opinions  as  to  the  significance 
and  final  outcome  of  Emerson's  religious  teachings,  I  will 
select  two  as  typical.  Dr.  William  Hague,  long  the  hon- 
ored minister  of  a  Baptist  church  in  Boston,  where  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  a  friendly  acquaintance  with  him,  has  written 
a  thoughtful,  amiable  paper  on  Emerson,  which  he  read  be- 
fore the  New  York  Genealogical  and  Biographical  Society. 
This  essay  closes  with  the  following  sentence:  — 

" '  Thus,  to-day,  while  musing,  as  at  the  beginning,  over 
the  works  of  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  we  recognize  now,  as 
ever,  his  imperial  genius  as  one  of  the  greatest  of  writers  ;  at 
the  same  time,  his  life-work  as  a  whole,  tested  by  its  supreme 
ideal,  its  method,  and  its  fruitage,  shows  also  a  great  waste 
of  power,  verifying  the  saying  of  Jesus  touching  the  harvest 
of  human  life,  "He  that  gathereth  not  with  me,  scat- 

TERETH  ABROAD."  ' 

" '  But  when  Dean  Stanley  returned  from  America,  it  was 
to   report,'   says    Mr.    Conway   (Macmillans,  June,   1879), 

*  that  religion  had  there  passed  through  an  evolution  from 
Edwards  to  Emerson,  and  that  the  genial  atmosphere  which 
Emerson  had  done  so  much  to  promote  is  shared  by  all  the 
churches  equally.' 

"  What  is  this  '  genial  atmosphere '  but  the  very  spirit  of 
Christianity?  The  good  Baptist  minister's  essay  is  full  of 
it.     He   comes    asking.   What  has    become    of    Emerson's 

*  wasted  power'?  and  lamenting  his  lack  of  'fruitage  ;'  and 
lo !  he  himself  has  so  ripened  and  mellowed  in  that  same 
Emersonian  air,  that  the  tree  to  which  he  belongs  would 
hardly  know  him.  The  close-communion  clergyman  handles 
the  arch-heretic  as  tenderly  as  if  he  were  the  nursing  mother 
of  a  new  infant  Messiah.    A  few  generations  ago  the  preacher 


310  LIFE   NOTES. 

of  a  new  gospel  would  have  been  burned ;  a  little  later  he 
would  have  been  tried  and  imprisoned  ;  less  than  fifty  years 
ago  he  was  called  infidel  and  atheist,  —  names  which  are  fast 
becoming  relinquished  to  the  intellectual  half-breeds  who 
sometimes  find  their  way  into  pulpits  and  the  so-called  re- 
ligious periodicals." 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  latest  biographer  of  Emerson 
treats  those  qualities  of  the  essay  that  he  characterizes  as 
full  of  "  the  very  spirit  of  Christianity  "  as  the  outgrowth  of 
a  new  environment,  that  pervaded  the  author's  surroundings, 
and  imparted  a  mental  expansion  whereby  he  outgrew  his 
old  associations.  This  will  surprise  the  lifelong  friends  of 
Dr.  Hague,  especially  those  of  them  pertaining  to  Rhode 
Island,  remembering  him  there  nearly  half  a  century  ago  as 
a  successor  of  Roger  Williams  in  the  ministry  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church,  delivering  in  1839  the  second  centennial 
discourse  commemorative  of  the  triumphs  of  "soul-free- 
dom," and  in  that  connection  contrasting  the  expansive 
spirit  of  Rhode  Island  history i  with  the  inveterate  narrow- 
ness of  the  cultured  minds  of  Massachusetts  in  maintaining, 
even  throughout  the  whole  first  third  of  this  century,  that 
oppressive  union  of  Church  and  State  which  taxed  all  alike, 
willing  or  unwilling,  for  the  support  of  public  worship.  It 
was  not  till  1834  that  the  last  political  link  that  bound  the 
Church  to  the  State  was  destroyed,  leaving  every  man  free  to 
pay  much  or  little,  any  thing  or  nothing,  for  the  support  of 
religion  ;  and  this  liberation  was  the  direct  issue  of  a  keen 
conflict,  in  which  Dr.  Hague,  as  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  of  Boston,  in  concert  with  the  other  Baptist  minis- 
ters of  the  Commonwealth,  had  a  full  share.  The  liberating 
bill,  which  was  passed  several  times  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, was  lost  in  the  Senate,  but  was  canied  at  last 
by  an  immense  mujorittj  at  the  hallot-huxcs.      In  the  light  of 

1  See  Aiipendiees,  page  351. 


OUR  EPILOGUE    WITH  ITS  EPISODES.       311 

these  memories,  this  judgment  of  Dr.  Plolraes,  accrediting  to 
the  Baptist  essayist  on  Emerson  a  high  degree  of  mental 
expansion  as  a  product  of  the  fresh  environment  of  Emer- 
sonian atmosphere,  seems,  indeed,  somewhat  of  a  queer 
anachronism,  at  once  surprising  and  anmsing. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  fairly  said  that  Dr.  Ilohnes, 
despite  his  varied  knowledge  of  men  and  things,  practically 
ignores  in  thought  the  spirit  of  Rhode  Island  history  as  an 
uplifting,  expanding,  and  liberalizing  factor  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  national  mind.  Dr.  Channing,  a  native  of 
Rhode  Island,  was  keenly  appreciative  of  its  subtle  influ- 
ences, iUelf  the  creator  of  a  "genial  atmosphere."  In  sym- 
pathy with  this  sentiment,  more  than  a  half-century  ago, 
were  several  of  the  best  sons  of  Massachusetts,  eminent 
among  whom  was  Judge  Story,  who  said,  in  his  "  Centen- 
nial "  at  Salem,  1828,  touching  the  principle  of  "soul-free- 
dom "  as  established  in  Rhode  Island,  "  In  her  code  of 
laws  we  read,  for  the  first  time  since  Christianity  ascended 
the  throne  of  the  Caesars,  that  conscience  should  be  free,  and 
men  should  not  be  punished  for  worshipping  God  as  they 
were  persuaded  he  required,  —  a  declaration  which  to  the 
honor  of  Rhode  Island  she  has  never  departed  from,"  and 
hesitated  not  to  add,  "  Massachusetts  may  blush  that  the 
Catholic  colony  of  Lord  Baltimore  and  the  Quaker  colony 
of  Penn  were  originally  founded  on  the  principle  of  Christian 
right  long  before  she  felt  or  acknowledged  them."  At  last, 
in  1834,  on  the  Capitol  hill  of  Boston,  our  deferred  hopes 
were  realized  long  before  the  genial  Emersonian  atmosphere 
had  been  evolved.  About  that  time,  throughout  1835,  Mr. 
Emerson  was  devoting  himself  to  the  study  of  Plotinus,  New 
Platonism,  and  the  German  mystics  ;  in  1836  he  put  forth 
his  first  volume,  "Nature  "  (93  pages),  which  he  called  "an 
entering  wedge  ;  "   in   1837  he  was  feeling  his  way  along, 


312  LIFE  NOTES. 

tentatively,  to  a  recognized  position  on  the  lecture  platform, 
and  to  that  end  spent  parts  of  several  weeks  in  Providence, 
while  delivering  a  course  of  lectures,  enjoying  at  the  same 
time  a  good  deal  of  social  life  in  company  with  Margaret 
Fuller,  who  was  already  a  distinguished  educator,  profes- 
sionally devoted  day  by  day  to  her  field  of  work,  —  the  Green- 
street  School,  —  and  supplementing  that  by  attracting  even- 
ing classes  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  to  set  places  of  gathering 
for  the  study  of  the  German  language  and  literature.  Thus, 
Dr.  Hague  at  that  time  (1837),  while  ministering  to  the 
First  Church  of  Providence,  was  brought  into  frequent  com- 
munication with  these  two,  who  were  said  to  have  been  "  born 
akin,"  and  were  alluded  to  as  "spirit-twins,"  despite  the 
strong  self-assertion  of  individuality,  mutually  attracted  by 
the  feeling  of  an  exceptional  unity. 

THE   ANACHRONISM    ILLUSTRATED. 

Of  this  period  a  well-remembered  incident  indicates  the 
reality  of  pleasant,  and  perhaps  rare,  mental  relationships. 
On  a  certain  Sunday  morning  INIargaret  Fuller  requested  a 
young  friend  to  call  at  Dr.  Hague's  residence,  and  ascertain 
whether  he  would  occupy  his  pulpit  that  morning ;  assigning, 
as  a  reason  for  the  inquiry,  that  Mr.  Emerson  was  passing 
the  day  in  town,  and  would  accept  her  invitation  to  attend 
the  service  in  company  with  herself  if  assured  that  the 
minister  would  be  at  home.  They  were  both  present  at  the 
set  time.  Not  long  afterwards,  as  it  appeared,  JNIargaret 
devoted  a  page  of  her  diary  to  a  critical  judgment  of  the 
preacher,  which  may  now  be  found  in  "  Memoirs  of  Margaret 
Fuller  Ossoli"  (the  joint  work  of  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson, 
James  Freeman  Clarke,  and  W.  H.  Channing),  vol.  i.  p.  183 
(Boston:  Phillips,  Sampson,  &  Co.,  1852)  ;  and  this  impres- 
sion of  the   "spirit-sister"  (A.D.   1837)  might  indicate  to 


OUR  EPILOGUE    WITH  ITS  EPISODES.       313 

Dr.  Holmes,  if  he  should  take  the  time  to  re-read  it,  that  in 
her  sight  there  could  not  have  been  much  scope  left  for  in- 
debtedness, regarding  "fruitage  ripened  and  mellowed," 
even  "the  very  spirit  of  Christianity,"  to  the  geniality  of 
the  Emersonian  atmosphere,  whatsoever  that  may  be,  or 
whensoever  the  time  of  the  evolution  might  come. 
The  following  is  from  the  diary  record  of  1837  :  — 
"  Mr.  Hague  is  of  the  Baptist  persuasion,  and  is  very 
popular  with  his  own  sect.  He  is  small,  and  carries  his  head 
erect;  he  has  a  high  and  intellectual  though  not  majestic 
forehead ;  his  brows  are  lowering,  and,  when  knit  in  indig- 
nant denunciation,  give  a  thunderous  look  to  the  counte- 
nance ;  and  beneath  them  flash,  sparkle,  and  flame  —  for  all 
that  is  said  of  light  in  rapid  motion  is  true  of  them  —  his 
dark  eyes.  Hazel  and  blue  eyes,  with  their  purity,  stead- 
fastness, subtle  penetration,  and  radiant  hope,  may  persuade 
and  win,  but  black  is  the  color  to  conmiand.  His  mouth  has 
an  equivocal  expression  ;  but,  as  an  orator,  perhaps  he  gains 
power  by  the  air  this  gives. 

"  He  has  a  very  active  intellect,  sagacity,  and  elevated  sen- 
timent, and,  feeling  strongly  that  God  is  love,  can  never 
preach  without  earnestness.  His  power  comes  first  from 
his  glowing  vitality  of  temperament.  While  speaking,  his 
every  muscle  is  an  action,  and  all  his  action  is  toward  one 
object.  There  is  perfect  abandon.  He  is  permeated,  over- 
borne, by  his  thought.  This  lends  a  charm  above  grace, 
though  incessant  nervousness  and  heat  injure  his  manner. 
He  is  never  violent,  though  often  vehement.  Pleading  tones 
in  his  voice  redeem  him  from  coarseness,  even  when  most 
eager;  and  he  throws  himself  into  the  hearts  of  his  hearers, 
not  in  weak  need  of  sympathy,  but  in  the  confidence  of  gen- 
erous emotion.  His  second  attraction  is  his  individuality : 
he  speaks  direct  from  the  conviction  of  his  spirit,  without 


314  LIFE  NOTES. 

temporizing  or  artificial  method.  His  is  the  *  impreraedi- 
tated  art,'  and  therefore  successful.  He  is  full  of  intellec- 
tual life ;  his  mind  has  not  been  fettered  by  dogmas,  and  the 
worsliip  of  beauty  finds  a  place  there.  I  am  much  inter- 
ested in  this  truly  animated  being." 

One  point  of  these  diary-notes  is  specially  suggestive; 
namely,  Margaret  Fuller's  affirmation  that  Dr.  Hague  was 
a  recognized  exponent  of  the  ideas  and  spirit  of  his  own 
denomination,  or,  as  she  puts  it,  "very  popular  with  his  own 
sect;  "  indicating,  on  her  part,  the  absence  of  all  thought, 
that,  as  to  the  matters  noted  in  her  pen-talk  with  herself,  she 
had  been  criticising  "  fruitage  "  that  had  "  mellowed  "  in  any 
newly  evolved  atmosphere,  and  of  such  sort  that  the  tree  to 
which  it  belongs  would  hardly  know  it !  AVithin  her  scope 
of  outlook  there  had  been  no  "  new  departure  "  from  that 
ideal  standard  of  the  primitive  Christianity  of  the  New 
Testament  so  freely  avowed  in  Rhode  Island  more  than  two 
centuries  ago,  —  a  revelation  of  supernatural  facta  vocal  with 
teachings.  Within  the  area  of  that  revelation,  imparted 
primarily  at  Jerusalem  and  at  Antioch,  the  best  aspirations 
of  the  soul  may  be  realized,  without  any  supplementing  from 
Alexandria,  the  home  of  that  heterogeneous  New  Platonic 
mysticism  of  the  fourth  century,  which,  transformed  into 
Emersonian  idealism,  presents  itself,  in  the  shape  of  lectures 
and  essays,  to  universal  acceptance  as  the  latest  revelation 
for  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth. 

THE   editor's    surprise   WIDELY   SHARED. 

From  this  review  notice  it  is  evident  that  the 
editor,  Dr.  Patton,  has  been  greatly  amazed  by 
the  discernment  of  the  fact  that  Dr.  Holmes,  who 
had  been  credited  by  us  all  with  a  world-wide  his- 


OUR   EPILOGUE    WITH  ITS  EPISODES.       315 

torical  knowledge,  should  have  been  so  unconscious 
of  an  J  memory  pertaining  to  "the  spirit  of  Rhode 
Island  history,"  long  ago  recognized  by  the  lead- 
ing authors  of  his  own  State  as  the  most  effective 
element  in  the  religio-political  reconstructions  of 
this  hemisphere,  and  through  them  interpreted  by 
the  best  thinkers  of  the  Old  World  as  a  prophecy 
of  its  own  destined  heritage. 

A  MYSTIFYING   TROBLEM. 

In  this  connection  we  are  led  to  confess  (the 
"  we  "  here  denoting  our  reading  companionship) 
that  we  were  quite  strangely  mystified  by  the  re- 
mark of  Dr.  Holmes,  designed  to  suggest  the 
signs  of  mental  expansion  by  the  inhalation  of 
liberalizing  influences  within  the  environment  of 
a  genial  Emersonian  atmosphere,  mainly  called 
forth  by  the  sympathetic  interest  of  a  neighboring 
Baptist  minister  in  tracing  the  leading  features  of 
Mr.  Emerson's  personality.  The  essential  charac- 
terizations given  by  my  essay,  however,  are  not 
the  tracings  of  Mr.  Emerson's  individual  man- 
hood, but  the  determination  of  Emersonianism. 

This  latter  characterization  was  the  chief  end 
of  my  writing ;  they  are,  certainly,  to  be  differenti- 
ated. But  Dr.  Holmes  regards  only  the  first, — 
the  treatment  of  the  individual  manhood.  That 
a  Baptist  minister  treats  this  with  a  curious  per- 


3l6  LIFE  NOTES. 

sonal  interest  and  a  keenly  appreciative  estimation 
of  what  seems  really  unique,  is  interpreted  by  the 
Doctor  as  a  sign  of  progressive  mental  expansion, 
the  product  of  a  genial  Emersonian  atmospheric 
environment.  Contrasting  Mr.  Emerson's  com- 
paratively pleasant  experiences  at  the  hands  of  a 
Baptist  clergyman  as  signalizing,  in  his  view,  the 
great  difference  between  the  present  and  the  past, 
he  writes,  "A  few  generations  ago  the  preacher 
of  a  new  gospel  would  have  been  burned."  Just 
here  we  are  somewhat  startled  by  the  question 
that  the  context  suggests ;  namely,  "  Burned  by 
whom  ?  "  There  is  just  here  an  earnest  call  for 
the  Doctor's  interpretation ;  for,  certainly,  there 
never  was  known  in  New  England,  or  elsewhere 
on  this  planet,  a  recognized  Baptist  minister 
whose  conduct  in  this  line  of  direction  as  to  burn- 
ing, or  any  form  of  force,  could  have  furnished  an 
example  in  contrast  with  that  of  the  one  whom  he 
has  been  so  cordially  commending. 

SUBTLE   UNIFICATION   OF   FORCES. 

The  distinctions  underlying  what  has  been  said 
in  regard  to  ideas  and  princij)les  as  guides  of 
thinking,  seem  to  have  been  more  familiar  to  the 
mind  of  the  generation  preceding  than  to  that  now 
contemporary.  In  regard  to  such  comparisons, 
however,  we  need  to  have  a  care  to  avoid  general- 


OUR   EPILOGUE    WITH  ITS  EPISODES.       317 
izino'   from    an    insufficient   observation    of  facts. 

o 

Here  I  am  reminded,  by  the  context,  of  that  keen 
intellectual  awakening  on  fundamental  political 
questions  that  occurred  in  1834,  the  year  that 
ended  the  long  battle  between  the  Senate  and  the 
Polls.  In  the  course  of  a  walk  and  talk  in  Boston 
with  a  distinguished  Unitarian  clergyman,  I  was 
led  to  say,  responsively,  "  Is  it  not,  indeed,  a 
marvellous  thing  that  you  Unitarians  and  we 
Baptists  should  be  banded  together  in  this  battle 
for  cutting  the  last  political  link  that  binds  the 
Church  to  the  State,  against  the  conservative  Or- 
thodox, so  called  ;  thus  preventing  forever  here- 
after the  administration  of  Christianity  by  any 
kind  of  force,  merely  physical  or  legal  ?  " 

"  Certainly,  it  is  so,"  he  replied.  "  Who  could 
have  predicted  such  a  union  a  decade  ago  ?  " 

"  A  consideration  that  makes  it  the  more  sugges- 
tive," I  said  again,  ''  is  this :  that  you  base  your 
demand  for  the  change  mainly  on  one  ground,  and 
we  on  another,  yet  in  action  a  unity." 

'-'•  To  what  different  grounds  do  you  refer  ?  " 

To  this  question  I  replied,  "Your  chief  argu- 
mentative appeal  is  derived  from  the  self-evident 
teachings  of  nature  and  reason,  essentially  iden- 
tical with  that  annunciation  that  arrests  attention 
in  the  first  sentence  of  the  Declaration  of  our 
National  Independence,  affirming  the  Unalienable 


3l8  LIFE   NOTES. 

rights  of  all  men  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness,'  which  enumeration  we  both 
supplement  by  the  proclamation,  '  Freedom  of  con- 
scienee^'  or  '  soul-liberty.''  Our  chief  plea,  you  ob- 
serve, is  grounded  upon  the  nature  and  teaching 
of  Christianity,  identical  with  that  set  forth  by 
the  founder  of  Rhode  Island  more  than  two  cen- 
turies and  a  half  ago.  Then,  as  you  may  remem- 
ber, he  quaintly  preached  and  printed  thus  the 
supreme  idea :  *  It  is  the  will  and  command  of 
God,  that,  since  the  coming  of  his  Sonne  (the 
Lord  Jesus),  a  permission  of  the  most  Paganish, 
Jewish,  Turkish,  or  anti-Christian  conscience  and 
worships  be  granted  unto  all  men,  in  all  nations 
and  countries :  and  they  are  only  to  be  fought 
against  with  that  sword  which  is  only  in  soule 
matters  able  to  conquer  ;  to  wit,  the  sword  of  God's 
Spirit,  the  Word  of  God.'  " 

"I  welcome  your  statement,"  said  my  compan- 
ion, "  as  true  and  interesting.  Though  I  had  not 
before  thought  of  the  two  different  grounds  of 
action  signalizing  co-operative  parties,  yet  this 
practical  unity,  akin  to  that  of  reason  and  reve- 
lation, is  a  fact  of  real  significance.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  evidently,  the  claim  urged  and  gained  for 
individual  liberty  of  conscience  as  a  right,  was 
grounded  upon  the  teaching  of  Christianity  as  set 
forth  in  the  New  Testament,  and  attested  by  the 


OUR   EPILOGUE    IV/T/I  ITS  EPISODES.       319 

martyr-Spirit  wlio  won  its  protection  from  royalty, 
and  secured  its  supremacy  in  America." 

It  is  worthy  of  special  mention,  that  "  The 
Christian  Register"  (Unitarian)  has  emphasized 
this  historical  fact  in  several  connections,  within  a 
comparatively  recent  period,  as  eminently  sugges- 
tive, and  has  quoted  the  same  declaration  of  funda- 
mental truth  that  I  have  just  now  drawn  from 
the  Introduction  to  "  Tlie  Bloody  Tenent,"  a  part 
of  Roger  Williams's  argumentative  plea  against  the 
sanguinary  reasonings  of  the  Massachusetts  clergy. 

At  the  time  of  this  writing,  a  friendly  question 
is  put,  quite  seriously,  by  a  genuine  admirer  of 
the  ever-youthful  poet  of  America :  "  How  has  it 
happened  that  Dr.  Holmes  has  indicated  no  im- 
pression of  this  order  of  facts,  nor  of  any  of  the 
suggested  lessons  that  associate  themselves  with 
the  era  of  1834?"  One  of  the  company  just  then 
present  aptly  replies,  "  Are  you  not  aware  that 
the  Doctor  was  absent  from  home  at  that  period 
(from  1832  to  1836),  pursuing  his  professional 
studies  in  Europe?"  This  timely  statement  of 
fact  was  welcomed  as  explanation.  "Ah,  yes,  I 
see ;  and  in  the  years  following,  evidently,  the 
spirit  of  historical  enthusiasm,  expressed  by  the 
orators  of  the  time,  the  greatest  and  best,  like  Dr. 
Upham  (Unitarian),  minister  of  the  First  Church 
of  Old  Salem,  from  whose  pastorate  Roger  Williams 


320  LIFE   NOTES. 

was  driven  forth  by  the  ruling  power,  like  Judge 
Story,  like  George  Bancroft,  and  others,  created 
'  a  genial  atmosphere '  that  transformed  public 
sentiment,  but  whose  mental  quickening  and  up- 
lifting power  Dr.  Holmes  could  not  fully  share  in 
the  transatlantic  Old  World,  while  busy  in  pre- 
paring to  take  the  brilliant  leaderships  that  he  has 
won  on  several  conspicuous  fields  of  action. 
Nevertheless,  his  mind  is  yet  young,  and  has  not 
yet  reached,  we  may  reasonably  believe,  its  limit 
of  acquisition." 


Tliese  references  to  the  past,  in  connection  with 
the  name  of  Dr.  Holmes,  recall  the  images  and 
names  of  many  whose  ''living  presence"  made 
so  large  a  part  of  Boston  forty  years  ago,  and  for 
whose  genial  ministries  of  friendship,  unconscious 
as  well  as  conscious,  there  will  never  come  to  us 
on  earth  any  adequate  substitution.  Especially 
do  these  memories  associate  themselves  with  the 
old  attractive  haunt  on  the  corner  of  Washington 
and  School  Streets  during  the  regime  of  Ticknor 
&  Fields.  There,  on  a  sunny  morning,  about 
forty  years  ago,  Mr.  Ticknor  was  behind  the 
counter  toward  the  rear  of  the  store  when  the 
first  copies  of  the  "  Blue  and  Gold  Edition "  of 
Holmes's  "  Poems  "  arrived,  welcomed  by  us  both 


OUR   EPILOGUE    WITH  ITS  EPISODES.       321 

tlie  more  cordially  od  account  of  the  Doctor's  long- 
continued  interdict  against  any  fresh  issues.  That 
interdict  had  attained  its  end  when  his  profes- 
sional character  had  so  established  itself  as  to 
maintain  its  pre-eminence  of  dignit}^,  and  simplify 
the  public  conception  of  his  primary  life-aim. 
At  the  moment  here  noted,  it  happened  that  Dr. 
Holmes  opened  the  door  and  entered  from  Wash- 
ington Street,  when  Mr.  Ticknor  called  him  to 
step  forward,  witli  the  added  exclamation,  "  Here 
is  a  man  who  paid  five  dollars  for  the  last  little 
volume  that  remained  up  to  the  time  of  the  inter- 
dict, supposing  it  unlikely  that  he  would  ever  have 
a  chance  to  obtain  another !  So,  you  see,  this 
copy  seemed  as  if  invested  at  once  with  historical 
interest."  The  Doctor  replied,  "  There  is  only  one 
proper  answer  to  that  remark,"  and,  immediately 
taking  the  copy  nearest  to  him  (vols.  1,  2),  pre- 
sented it  to  me,  having  ali-eady  invested  it  with 
historical  interest  by  his  autograph  inscription. 
The  old  corner  where  we  then  were  had  long  be- 
fore become  ''historical,"  —  a  fact  whereof  a  fresh 
impression  was  made  when  Rev.  Dr.  Judson,  hav- 
ing returned  to  Boston  after  thirty  years'  absence 
in  India,  left  the  ship,  to  find  his  way  to  the  book- 
store of  Carter  &  Hendee,  the  old  proprietors  long 
gone,  known  chiefly  by  hearsay  to  "the  rising 
generation." 


322  LIFE   NOTES. 

And  so  to-day  the  words  of  the  last  line  just 
now  written  are  beginning  to  tell  the  story  of  the 
younger  firm,  whom  I  can  readily  recall  only  as 
they  were  in  their  prime,  achieving  a  brilliant 
career,  a  world-wide  reputation ;  sending  forth 
many  works  of  the  best  and  highest  style  ;  meet- 
ing the  intellectual  needs  of  their  period,  which 
Ave  associate  chronologically  with  the  three  or  four 
middle  decades  of  this  century.  To  my  retrospec- 
tive outlook,  the  whole  period  seems  so  bright  and 
brief  as  to  become  a  sort  of  bewilderment,  starting 
the  question  whether  the  memory  itself  does  not 
pertain  in  part  to  dreamland.  Let  me  think  it 
over.  Not  far  from  forty  years  ago,  at  six  o'clock 
of  the  sunny  morning,  as  I  opened  my  front-door, 
Mr.  Ticknor  had  just  then  reached  the  steps,  and 
hailed  me,  saying,  "  I  know  that  you  were  in  the 
way  of  pedestrianizing  an  hour  before  breakfast, 
and  I  have  come  to  wayhiy  you  for  a  walk,  and 
talk  in  regard  to  a  question  of  personal  interest 
now  under  consideration.  He  was  then  connected 
with  a  bank,  and  was  at  the  same  time  our  paro- 
chial treasurer,  while  I  Avas  ministering  to  the 
church  in  Federal  Street.  A  proposal  to  leave 
the  bank,  and  find  in  the  old  book-store  his  field  of 
work  for  the  future,  involved  all  the  questioning 
of  that  early  hour.  "  In  the  end,"  I  said,  "  re- 
garded from  my  point  of  view,  there  is  no  call  for 


OUR  EPILOGUE    WITH  ITS  EPISODES.       323 

protracted  deliberation.  All  your  antecedents, 
every  distinguishing  element  of  your  personality, 
your  readiness  of  address,  every  taste,  trend,  and 
habitude  that  I  have  discerned,  indicate  an  adapt- 
ness  to  the  demands  of  that  trade-centre,  and  a 
prophecy  of  success.  As  you  ask  for  my  opinion, 
I  give  freely,  glad  that  it  is  positive,  confident  as  I 
am  that  you  are  being  providentially  led,  ruled,  or 
perhaps  overruled,  to  the  fulfilment  of  your  life- 
aim/'  These  hopeful  predictions  have  been  admi- 
rably realized,  —  a  fact  of  personal  history  that  I 
was  led  to  speak  of  commemoratively  wlien  offici- 
ating at  the  home-funeral  service,  where  all  were 
mourners,  and  none  more  so,  outside  of  the  family, 
than  the  two  men  who  were  nearest  to  me  on  that 
occasion,  —  Hawthorne  on  one  side,  and  ex-Presi- 
dent Pierce  on  the  other. 

AS   TO   TIMING   OXE's   LIFE-WOEK. 

Not  one  of  tliese  three  friends  here  noted  lived 
very  far  beyond  his  prime ;  apparently,  at  least, 
considering  their  vitality  of  temperament.  Of 
each  of  them  we  have  heard  it  said  incidentally, 
his  death  appeared  to  be  itntimely ;  that  is  to  say, 
it  seemed  a  baffling  of  reasonable  hopes  and  cal- 
culations. Yet,  despite  this  liability  to  mistaken 
calculations,  we  have  known  the  most  thoughtful 
men   suggest   rules   and    forecastings,   as    if    the 


324  LIFE  NOTES. 

measure  of  "  threescore  years  and  ten "  were  an 
established  law  in  relation  to  the  average  of 
civilized  humanity.  In  every  generation  the  life- 
time of  some  persons  has  been  determined  by  the 
sway  of  mere  impressions  for  which  there  was  no 
accounting.  There  was  a  time  when  my  own  ex- 
perience, to  a  degree,  exaggerated  such  an  impres- 
sion. The  day  following  Dr.  Wayland's  discourse 
on  the  occasion  of  my  installation  (February, 
1831),  in  the  course  of  a  walk  and  talk,  he  made 
the  incidental  remark,  "  Jf  I  were  in  your  place,  I 
would  not  publish  any  thing  before  reaching  thirty 
years  of  age."  To  this  I  responded,  "  President, 
I  accept  your  rule  as  Bafe;  but  I  must  confess  to 
you  that  I  do  not  expect  to  live  much  over  thirty." 
Of  course,  he  treated  such  an  impression  as  reason- 
less, and  approved  the  motto  that  I  had  recently 
commended  in  a  discourse  to  young  Christians  ; 
namely,  "  Be  ready  to  die  to-day,  but  lay  out  your 
life-plan  for  threescore  and  ten."  As  a  matter  of 
fact  and  experience,  however,  such  advisory  rules 
of  adjustment  as  to  age  are  of  very  limited  value 
practically  ;  for  rising  occasions  sweep  them  away, 
and  determine  issues.  In  regard  to  my  own 
case,  all  rules  as  to  the  right  time  for  publishing 
were  forgotten  when  the  era  of  Ij'ceums  and  lec- 
tures began  to  assert  itself  in  Boston.  I  was  in- 
vited to  deliver  a  lecture  in   the  Lyceum  Course 


OUR  EPILOGUE    WITH  ITS  EPISODES.       325 

at  Boylston  Hall.  My  subject  was  one  that  I 
selected  because  I  was  interested  in  it;  namely, 
''  Moral  Reasoning."  A  friend  connected  with  the 
Lyceum  Committee  expressed  a  doubt  whether  a 
subject  so  metaphysical  could  win  popular  atten- 
tion. I  replied,  ''Be  not  anxious.  The  novelty  of 
the  Lyceum  will  suffice  to  attract  an  audience ; 
and,  when  once  there,  I  think  their  sympathetic 
interest  will  be  sufficiently  encouraging.  Imme- 
diately at  the  closing  of  that  lecture,  James 
Loring,  Esq.,  publisher  (Manning  &  Loring), 
stepped  upon  the  platform,  and  proposed  at  once 
to  buy  my  manuscript,  in  order  to  print  it  as  an 
introductory  essay  to  a  work  already  in  press, 
entitled  "Gambler  on  j\Ioral  Reasoning."  Ere- 
long the  work  was  issued,  and  sought  as  a  text- 
book for  teaching  in  academies,  high  schools,  and 
colleges,  so  fulfilling  a  special  mission.  Thus  the 
time  of  my  first  publication  was  determined  by  the 
occasion  imperially,  age  being  treated  as  of  no 
account.  Other  publications  followed,  mainly 
called  forth  by  their  publishers  on  subjects  re- 
garded somewhat  as  matters  of  common  interest. 
\\\  this  friendly  and  inspiring  relation  stood  forth 
for  a  long  course  of  years  the  eminent  pubhshing- 
firm  of  Gould  &  Lincoln  (for  a  time  Gould,  Ken 
dall,  &  Lincoln)  ;  that  young  firm  having  had 
bequeathed  to  it  in  early  days  the  heritage  uf  an 


326  LIFE   NOTES. 

excellent  prestige  from  the  preceding  house  of 
Lincoln  &  Edmands,  whose  books  had  been  famil- 
iar to  the  homes  of  a  large  area  in  New  York 
during  the  period  of  my  school  and  college  days, 
and  were  there  and  elsewhere  awakening  minds  in 
various  directions,  so  as  to  become  a  factor  in  the 
chief  departments  of  education,  religious,  literary, 
and  scientific.  Some  of  the  highest  and  best 
works  of  the  age  within  each  of  these  departments 
were  issued  by  the  enterprise  of  this  firm,  and  are 
still  fulfilling  their  world-wide  mission. 

From  these  stand-points  of  retrospective  outlook, 
other  names  loom  up  within  view ;  while  the 
forms,  voices,  movements,  of  many  pertaining 
to  my  contemporary  surroundings  tempt  both 
greeting  and  reminiscence.  But  this  tempting 
aim  implies  another  volume.  I  would  fain  yield 
to  the  enticement,  but  know  too  well  that  I  have 
not  the  margins  of  time  or  strength  to  warrant  a 
responsive  pledge  like  that  which  the  ]:»eginnings 
of  this  called  forth.  Yet,  as  "  with  God  nothing 
is  impossible,"  and  he  has  granted  so  much,  he 
may  give  this  also  ;  who  can  tell  ? 


APPE]^DICES. 
I. 

HON.   JOHN   M.   S.   WILLIAMS.^  _ 

Of  the  reminiscences  pertaining  to  my  first  pastor- 
ate in  Boston,  one  of  the  most  noteworthy  is  the  fact 
that  my  first  conversation  with  an  individual  in  regard 
to  his  personal  welfare  was  not  held  with  an  inquirer, 
or  any  one,  indeed,  who  could  be  thought  of  as  belong- 
ing to  the  class  of  inquiring  minds.  At  the  close  of 
my  first  afternoon  sermon  service  (December,  1830), 
Mr.  Goddard,  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  school, 
requested  me  to  go  with  him  to  the  small  room  above 
the  organ,  in  order  to  talk  with  a  fractious  boy  who 
had  been  "kept  in  for  bad  behavior."  Without 
questioning,  I  assented  at  once,  and  on  entering  the 
room  was  confronted  by  a  boy  of  twelve  apparently, 
sitting  with  his  back  to  the  wall,  his  feet  upon  the 
bench,  his  arms  folded  so  as  to  give  a  complete  ex- 
pression of  a  defiant  spirit,  ready  for  any  occasion 
or  opportunity  to  "  answer  back,"  and  "  give  any  one 
as  good  as  he  sends." 

While  on  the  way  to  the  room,  I  had  asked  of  the 

1  See  page  144. 


328  LTFE  NOTES. 

superintendent  the  name  of  the  boy  ;  he  replied, 
"John  M.  8.  AVilliams."  There  he  sat,  as  if  expect- 
ing an  attack  or  rebuke  of  some  kind,  but  seemed 
quickly  surprised  into  another  mood  of  mind  when, 
being  somewhat  amused  with  the  oddity  of  the  scene, 
I  took  my  place  upon  the  same  seat,  and,  having 
repeated  what  the  superintendent  had  reported  about 
him,  proceeded  to  sa}-,  "  There  is  one  thing  pretty 
well  settled  in  my  mind,  and  I  wish  to  tell  you  of  it ; 
that  is,  when  I  look  into  your  face,  it  seems  to  me  quite 
likely  that  you  have  not  been  so  bad  a  boy  as  was 
myself  at  your  age."  He  became  at  once  an  earnest 
listener  to  the  account  I  was  giving  him  of  boy-life  in 
New  York,  especially  while  setting  forth  "the  situa- 
tion" in  regard  to  what  I  described  as  my  "great 
temptation,"  —  the  critical  experience  that  he  recog- 
nized as  akin  to  his  own;  awakening  thus  a  sympa- 
thetic interest  in  my  confession  of  utter  inability  to 
resist  the  destructive  forces  of  evil  that  constantly 
assail  us,  making  our  condition  "  worse  and  worse," 
and,  of  course,  more  miserable.  From  that  point 
onward,  in  this  connection  of  ideas,  he  could  fully 
appreciate  all  that  was  said  of  my  escape  by  means  of 
a  resj^onsive  self- sxir render  to  Him  who  calls  us  b}'  his 
gospel  into  a  new  spirit  relation  to  himself,  wherein 
we  enthrone  his  Word  within  us. 

The  truth  took  effect  in  the  formation  of  a  new 
character,  and  the  fractious  boy  was  erelong  recog- 
nized by  his  young  associates  as  a  leader  in  Christian 
work. 


APPENDICES,  329 

Though  that  scene  was  never  forgotten  by  me,  it 
was  recalled  to  mind  with  fresh  vividness  when,  after 
the  lapse  of  a  third  of  a  century,  I  found  myself  at 
Washington  sitting  by  his  side  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, occupying  by  invitation  a  vacant  chair,  in 
order  to  have  a  chance  for  conversation  on  topics  of 
national  and  world-wide  concern.  The  words  spoken 
at  the  time  of  my  firat  sitting  by  his  side  in  ' '  the  little 
room  over  the  organ,"  and  the  matters  of  supreme  in- 
terest talked  of  while  occupying  a  seat  l)y  his  side  as 
a  member  of  Congress  at  a  critical  period  of  the 
nation's  history,  present  a  contrast  that  voices  to  us 
ail  a  fresh  testimony  to  the  simplicity  of  the  New-Tes- 
tament Christianity,  illustrating  it  practically  with  a 
fresh  emphasis  of  suggestion. 


II. 

EEV.  JAMES  FREEMAN  CLARKE,  D.D.^ 

About  this  period,  still  signalized  in  the  memories 
of  a  few  as  the  season  of  ''  conciliation,"  an  excellent 
lady  of  our  church,  whose  husband  had  joined  "The 
Church  of  the  Disciples,"  brought  to  me  at  my 
"study"  a  manuscript  copy  of  one  of  Dr.  J.  F. 
Clarke's  sermons  on  "Regeneration,"  requesting  that 
I  would  indicate  to  her,  in  due  time,  every  point  of  dis- 
agreement. A  few  days  afterward  I  returned  it  to  her 
without  suggesting  any  amendment  as  to  its  expres- 
sion in  any  line  of  direction.  As  a  formulation  of 
1  See  page  233. 


330  LIFE  NOTES. 

doctrine,  it  seemed  to  be  apth'  elaborated.  I  mention 
this  incident  to  illustrate  the  trend  of  thinking  just 
then,  —  the  inquiring  spirit  of  the  period. 

In  this  connection  it  is  worth}^  of  notice,  that  in  the 
year  1850,  while  Dr.  Clarke  was  confined  at  home  by 
sickness,  I  accepted  an  invitation  from  the  officers  of 
his  church  to  deliver  to  them  a  Sunday-evening  ser- 
mon. The  subject  of  my  discourse  on  that  occasion 
was  "  The  Simplicity  of  the  Christian  Religion." 
The  text  was  ''The  Simplicity  that  is  in  Christ." 
At  the  close  of  the  service,  as  I  stepped  from  the  pul- 
pit to  the  floor,  a  company  of  about  twelve  gentlemen 
were  grouped  together  in  conversation,  half  of  whom 
I  recognized,  and  distinguished  as  professional, — law- 
yers, physicians,  and  others.  Those  whom  I  knew 
personally,  introduced  me  to  their  associates ;  and  then 
one,  addressing  me  directly,  said,  ''  Dr.  Hague,  we 
all  feel  alike  that  you  have  expressed  your  views 
with  entire  clearness  to-night."  To  this  1  responded, 
''  Well,  gentlemen,  I  doul)t  not  3'ou  desired  me  to  do 
so,  and  not  aim  to  be  the  mere  echo  of  another's 
voice."  —  "True,  true,"  it  was  answered,  '-and  for 
that  quality  we  all  like  your  sermon.  Now,  about 
one-half  of  these  gentlemen  here  gathered  can  go  with 
you  the  whole  length  of  your  statements,  while  the 
other  half  "  —  waving  his  hand  significantly  —  *'  would 
demur.  We  are  accustomed  to  convene  for  a  si)ecial 
purpose  on  Thursday  evenings,  and  we  all  unite  in 
inviting  you  to  join  us  in  friendly  and  free  conversa- 
tional discussions  touching  these  subjects." 


A  PPENDICES.  3  3  I 

This  invitation  I  welcomed  with  high  appreciation, 
and  would  have  realized  it  actually  had  I  not  been 
obliged  to  inform  them  as  to  my  acceptance  of  a  call 
to  the  fulfilment  of  a  special  work  in  Newark,  N.J., 
requiring  my  presence  there  by  the  end  of  the  follow- 
ing week.  The  incident  itself  is  vocal  with  a  clear 
testimony  of  its  own  as  to  the  spirit  of  the  period. 


III. 

REV.   DR.    JOHN    OVERTON   CHOFLES.^ 

The  historic  trend  of  Rev.  Dr.  John  Overton  Chonles 
of  Newport,  R.I.,  tempered  his  whole  life-work,  which, 
indeed,  fulfilled  its  mission  mainly  in  this  country, 
after  he  had  received  the  highest  style  of  education 
that  England  could  then  furnish  outside  of  the  univer- 
sities. More  than  half  a  century  ago,  after  having 
edited  several  smaller  works,  he  committed  to  the 
press,  in  the  year  1832,  the  "History  of  Missions,"  in 
two  volumes,  quarto,  —  a  work  which  had  been  com- 
menced by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Smith,  an  eminent  minis- 
ter of  England,  who  died,  in  the  midst  of  his  toil,  in 
the  year  1830.  Dr.  Chonles  not  only  completed  the 
History,  but  bestowed  much  labor  upon  the  required 
editorship,  and  was  gratified  with  its  favorable  recep- 
tion by  the  public. 

While  enjoying  his  four  years'  ministry  at  Jamaica 
Plain,  Dr.  Chonles  employed  the  hours  of  leisure  then 
at  his  command  in  preparing  for  the  press  a  new  edi- 

1  See  pages  198,  248. 


332  LrPE    NOTES. 

tion  of  Neal's  "  Histor}'  of  the  Puritans,"  which  was 
issued  in  1844  from  the  press  of  Harper  &  Brothers. 
The  design  and  the  extent  of  his  labors  in  this  direc- 
tion he  has  thus  stated  :  ''  It  is  quite  clear  that  in  the 
United  States  there  is  a  general  attention  directed  to 
the  subject  of  Church  history,  partly  arising  from  the 
almost  total  apathy  which  has  so  long  existed,  and, 
in  a  considerable  degree,  owing  to  the  extraordinary 
movement  in  the  Church  of  England  of  those  who  re- 
gard their  amputation  from  Kome  as  original  sin  and 
actual  transgression.  I  have  long  wished  to  see 
Neal's  admirable  '  History  of  the  Puritans  '  in  the 
hands,  not  only  of  the  ministry  and  students,  but  all 
private  reading  Christians,  —  a  growing  class  in  the 
country  ;  but  its  very  high  price  has  been  an  insuper- 
able barrier  to  general  circulation.  Consultation  with 
many  of  our  most  nifluential  clergy  of  all  denomina- 
tions interested  has  induced  me  to  prepare  an  edition 
which  shall  not  only  be  so  cheap  as  to  admit  of  general 
use,  but  which  shall  embod}'  the  valuable  information 
which  has  been  garnered  up  by  the  writers  of  the  last 
century.  Since  Neal  finished  his  work,  we  have  had 
the  writings  of  Towgood  and  Toulmin,  Wilson  and 
Palmer,  Brooks  and  Conder,  Fletcher  and  Orne,  and 
especially  the  admirable  contributions  of  Drs.  Vaughn 
and  Price.  The  works  alluded  to,  and  very  many 
others,  have  been  faithfully  and  laboriously  consulted 
in  order  to  enrich  this  edition.  It  may  have  some 
errors  in  t3"pography  which  have  escaped  my  notice  ; 
but  I  can  assure  the  reader  that  it  is  the  most  perfect 


APPENDICES.  333 

edition  extant,  and  that  I  have  made  scores  of  correc- 
tions from  the  latest  London  edition.  Not  an  iota  has 
been  altered  in  the  original  text  of  Neale,  and  every 
edition  of  the  immortal  work  has  been  carefully  col- 
lated and  compared." 

When  we  consider,  that,  in  addition  to  the  works 
already  mentioned,  Dr.  Choiiles  has  put  forth  an  Amer- 
ican edition  of  Foster's  ''  Statesmen  of  the  EngUsh 
Commonwealth  ;  "  that  he  has  furnished  a  continuation 
of  Hinton's  ''History  of  America,"  ending  with  the 
administration  of  President  Taylor;  that  for  several 
years  he  edited  ''The  Boston  Christian  Times,"  or 
contributed  regularly  to  other  papers  ;  that  his  lectures 
on  the  character  and  administration  of  Oliver  Crom- 
well, and  also  his  lectures  on  other  subjects,  have  been 
effective,  —  we  are  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Bristol 
*^  orphan-boy  of  twelve,"  whom  we  recognized  in  due 
time  as  the  Rev.  John  Overton  Choules,  D.D.,  wielded 
a  pen  that  was  seldom  idle,  and  bequeathed  large  lega- 
cies of  treasured  learning  to  meet  the  needs  of  his  own 
generation,  and  of  the  adopted  country  that  he  loved 
so  well,  as  infolding  within  its  destinies  the  brighten- 
ing fortunes  of  the  ages  to  come. 

While  thus  recalling  the  name  of  Dr.  Choules  in 
connection  with  his  pen-work,  it  is  worthy  of  special 
remembrance  that  the  sphere  of  action  where  his  dis- 
tinguishing gifts  of  power  were  most  quickly  discerned 
and  felt  was  the  broad  social  world.  On  the  25th  of 
February,  1856,  the  day  after  my  delivery  of  the  dis- 
course commemorative  of   his  life  and  character,  the 


334  ^^P^  NOTES. 

Hon.  Mr.  Cranston  of  Newport  showed  me  one  of 
Mr.  Webster's  treasured  letters  to  him,  stating  certain 
arrangements  for  a  private  meeting  of  political  friends 
at  Newport,  so  timed  as  to  meet  the  senator's  conven- 
ience on  his  way  from  Washington  to  Boston.  It  was 
designed  as  a  meeting  for  consultation.  The  invited 
ones  were  named,  and  then  came  this  postscript :  "  Do 
not  forget  to  invite  Rev.  Dr.  Choules."  Mr.  Webster 
is  said  to  have  once  remarked,  that  the  distinctive 
mission  of  Dr.  Choules  was  the  bringing  into  direct 
communication  of  the  persons  who  needed  each  other's 
acquaintance.  The  make-up  of  his  individuality  sug- 
gested this  as  an  end  and  aim.  Nothing  that  was  re- 
markable escaped  his  notice.  He  was  at  home  with 
all  of  every  rank.  From  each  he  gathered  something 
that  was  interesting  to  another.  He  was  therefore 
welcomed  by  all,  and  he  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  both 
giving  and  receiving.  Hence,  too,  his  natural  sagacity 
in  reading  character.was  rapidly  cultivated.  No  human 
being,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest  of  the  social 
grades,  was  entirely  devoid  of  interest  to  him.  Even 
in  the  days  of  his  boyhood,  if  the  greatest  men  of 
England  visited  Bristol,  he  was  sure  to  find  some 
proper  way  of  approaching  each  one  of  them,  and 
perhaps  of  forming  his  acquaintance  ;  so  that,  as  was 
once  said  to  me  by  a  companion  of  his  later  youth, 
Rev.  Thomas  Price,  D.D.  (editor  of  "The  Eclectic  Re- 
view "),  it  was  a  matter  of  amusement  and  amazement 
to  his  fellow-students  to  witness  the  ease  and  grace- 
fulness with  which  such  determinations  were   carried 


APPENDICES.  335 

out  in  action.  At  the  same  time,  his  keen  zest  for 
knowledge  and  for  oV)seivatiou  of  character  would 
render  the  abode  of  some  poor,  obscure  man  a  charmed 
resort.  His  own  wit,  in  common  talk,  would  often 
recall  the  pith  and  point  of  Sydney  Smith. 


IV. 

AKCHBISHOP  BAYLEY.^ 

James  Roosevelt  Bayley  (the  son  of  Dr.  Carlton 
Bayle}',  my  mother's  first  cousin)  was  the  first  and 
only  native  American  who  had  attained  a  rank  so  high 
as  the  primacy  of  the  Roman-Catholic  Church  in  the 
United  States,  the  dignity  pertaining  to  the  arch-epis- 
copate of  Baltimore.  He  entered  upon  his  priestly 
career  as  rector  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Harlem, 
near  New  York.  Though  knowing  much  of  each 
other  through  relatives  and  friends,  we  lacked  opportu- 
nity of  coming  into  free  personal  communication  until 
he  had  received  his  appointment  as  Roman-Catholic 
bishop  of  Newark.  Not  long  after  his  arrival  in  that 
city  he  called  at  the  residence  of  my  elder  brother, 
Mr.  James  Hague,  in  order  to  pay  his  respects  to  my 
mother,  then  spending  a  week  at  the  home  of  her  old- 
est son.  Early  that  evening,  as  I  entered  the  house, 
arriving  from  New  York,  my  brother  said,  "I  wash 
you  had  come  a  few  minutes  since :  the  bishop  has 
just  now  left  the  house,  and  desired  to  see  j^ou."  This 
remark  was  the  occasion  of  my  calling  at  the  library 
1  See  No.  I.,  page  29. 


336  LIFE  NOTES. 

of  the  Cathedral,  where  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting 
him  about  au  hour  afterward. 

Some  inquiries  that  interested  both  of  us,  as  to 
points  of  famil}'  history,  having  been  considered,  he 
suddenly  turned  the  subject  by  this  questioning : 
"  Pray,  tell  me  how  it  happened  that  3'ou  ever  became 
a  Baptist ;  as  all  your  relatives  around  Pelham  and 
New  York  are  Episcopalians,  that  change  has  been  to 
me  a  puzzle." 

To  this  I  replied,  "  Bishop,  for  a  like  reason  it  has 
been  to  me  a  puzzle  how  you  became  a  Roman  Catho- 
lic ;  for  knowing  of  3"ou,  at  the  beginning  of  3'our  pro- 
fessional life,  as  rector  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in 
Harlem,  it  was  a  real  surprise  to  learn  that  3^ou  were 
officiating  as  private  secretary  of  Arclibishop  Hughes, 
and  then  that  3^ou  had  become,  as  now,  the  bishop  of 
this  diocese." 

"  Well,"  he  quickly  answered,  "  tell  me  your  story, 
and  I  will  tell  you  mine  if  you  wish  to  hear  it." 

"  In  answering  your  call,  bishop,"  I  said,  "  my  own 
explanation  ma3'  be  briefly  put.  I  have  no  noteworthy 
remembrance  of  an3^  personal  interest  in  the  teachings 
of  Christianity  until  the  year  1823,  —  an  interval 
between  my  academy  and  college  life,  devoted  to  my 
farm-education  at  Paramus,  N.J.,  where,  on  the  first 
Sunday  of  June,  I  listened  to  a  sermon  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Elting,  pastor  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church.  His  text  was  drawn  from  the  fifteenth  chap- 
ter of  John's  Gospel,  fifteenth  verse :  '  If  I  had  not 
come  and  spoken  unto  them,  they  had  not  had  sin :  but 


APPENDICES.  337 

now  they  have  no  cloak  for  their  sin.'  The  preacher 
began  by  voicing  the  sense,  saying,  '  If  no  Saviour 
had  ever  come  into  the  world,  our  sinfulness  would  be 
nothing  compared  with  what  it  must  be  if,  after  his 
coming  to  us,  we  reject  him.  He  appeals  to  us  all,'  it 
was  said,  '  individually,  as  sinners  whose  future,  as  to 
character  and  condition,  must  depend  upon  our  chosen 
relation  to  himself.  The  real  import  of  that  future  is 
determined,  on  the  one  hand,  by  the  self -surrendering 
faith  that  unites  the  soul  to  him,  or,  on  the  other 
hand,  by  one's  self-abandonment  to  "•  the  law  of  sin" 
that  asserts  itself  in  human  nature.'  His  waj^  of  put- 
ting this  alternative  was  decidedly  effective,  simpli- 
fying Christianity,  especially  as  set  forth  in  such 
illustrative  miracles  as  that  experience  of  the  leper 
(Matt.  viii.  1-4)  who  surrendered  himself  to  the 
Great  Physician  for  healing  both  of  body  and  spirit. 
Assured  on  that  very  day  that  I  had  entered  the 
si)iritual  Church  by  a  self-surrendering  faith,  in  accord- 
ance with  Christ's  own  description  of  that  Church  as 
recorded  in  the  tenth  chapter  of  John's  Gospel,  where 
we  notice  that  in  the  porch  of  the  temple,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  priesthood,  he  proclaimed  himself  the  one 
supreme  Shepherd  of  the  flock  of  God  on  earth, 
'  who  knows  his  own,  is  known  of  them ; '  regards 
them  individually,  '  calleth  them  by  name.'  This 
great  idea,  so  significantly  emphasized  by  Paul  in  ad- 
dressing the  Romans,  —  namely,  union  to  Christ  by 
faith  alone,  including  within  itself  all  promised  bless- 
ings,— quickened  me  with  a  new  sympathy  for  all  who 


338  LIFE  NOTES. 

are  thus  spiritually  akin.  These  make  np  that  one 
true  spiritual  Church  whose  bounds  are  known  only  to 
Him  who  '  knoweth  all  things,'  as  Peter  expressed  it 
when  appealing  to  Jesus  for  his  own  personal  recogni- 
tion. 

"  Thus  assured  as  I  was,  bishop,  of  my  being  a 
member  of  the  spiritual  Church,  which  is,  in  reality, 
'the  Holy  Catholic  Church'  (the  word  '  Church,'  you 
know,  meaning  originally  '•  the  Lord's  own '),  that  rul- 
ing idea  engaged  my  thought,  irrespective  of  any  out- 
ward or  visible  organism  to  represent  it.  At  this  stage 
of  my  experience  I  entered  college,  joined  the  Theo- 
logical Society  and  an  association  of  Sunday-school 
teachers  as  an  avowed  Christian  worker.  After  the 
lapse  of  a  few  months,  an  increasing  degree  of  reli- 
gious interest  furnished  the  chief  topics  of  talk  around 
'  College  Hill ; '  and  then  in  due  time  many  were 
joining  churches  of  different  denominations,  though 
still  a  unity  in  Christian  work.  This  particular  '  situ- 
ation '  had  its  own  appeal  for  me,  impelling  me  to  a 
special  re-studying  of  the  Greek  Testament,  in  order 
to  determine  the  question  whether,  in  addition  to  the 
one  spiritual  Church  which  Christ  had  described,  there 
had  been  histituted  also  hy  liim  an  external  or  visible 
organism  as  its  exponent  in  the  sight  of  the  world. 
This  re-reading,  with  a  definite  aim,  showed  clearly 
that  such  a  representative  organism  had  been  consti- 
tuted by  Christ,  not  at  Rome,  but  at  Jerusalem,  and 
had  been  extended  thence  by  the  apostles  throughout 
the  Roman  world,  made  up  not  of  nations,  like  your 


APPENDICES.  339 

Roman-Catholic  Church,  nor  of  ^States,  nor  of  muni- 
cipalities, nor  of  families  as  such,  but  of  individuals, 
—  responsible  souls,  professing  their  own  faith,  and 
asking  for  their  own  baptism  as  the  appointed  symbolic 
testimony^  the  set  sacrament  or  oath  of  lo3^alty.  As 
soon  as  this  unification  of  the  New  Testament's 
teaching  disclosed  itself,  I  discerned  at  once  the  dis- 
tinguishing primitive  idea  as  to  the  outward  organism 
pertaining  to  Christ's  Church  (or  ecdesm),  which  the 
Baptists  really  actualize.  Thence,  at  the  opening  of 
my  last  Junior  vacation,  on  my  return  to  New  York  I 
presented  myself  for  baptism,  and  was  accepted.  This 
is  the  whole  story  of  the  change." 

The  bishop  listened  with  an  expression  that  sug- 
gested the  newness  of  these  thoughts  in  relation  to 
himself,  or  rather,  his  cherished  habitudes  of  think- 
ing. After  a  moment's  musing  he  said  slowly,  "Well, 
well,  that  is  sufficiently  simple  and  also  logical.  If 
I  had  ever  accepted  your  premise  as  a  basis  or  start- 
ing-point of  reasoning,  namely,  '  the  Bible  alone  the 
rule  of  faith  and  practice,  a  gift  of  God  to  the  in- 
dividual soul,  thus  made  responsible  for  its  own 
interpretation  of  it,'  I  would  have  reached  the  same 
conclusion,  and  would  have  become  a  Baptist  myself." 

This  remark  furnished  me  occasion  to  reply,  "  I  am 
not  surprised  to  liear  you  say  so :  a  score  of  years  ago 
I  heard  some  of  the  leading  scholars  of  Rome  utter 
similar  statements  as  to  tne  logical  necessities  of  the 
case,  especially  my  host,  Signor  Nicolo,  chaplain  to 
the    Cardinal    Barberini,    in    whoso    house   I   lived   a 


340  LIFE   NOTES. 

month,   having  my  cot  in   his  Ubraiy.     Now,  having 
tokl  3'ou  my  story,  I  wait  for  yours." 

Th(j  hishop  at  once  proceeded:  ''You  have  ah-eady 
referred  to  my  rectorship  of  the  P^piscopal  Churcli  at 
Harlem.  You  are  aware,  no  douljt,  that  when  a  young 
inquirer,  as  I  was  once,  seeks  religious  guidance  of 
his  official  teacher,  whether  deacon,  priest,  or  bishop, 
the  teacliing  most  strongly  emphasized  at  the  very 
beginning  is  tlie  one  precept,  '  Hear  the  Church/ 
ordained  of  God  to  provide  for  yom*  needs,  and  answer 
your  (questions.  Tlie  authorized  formulations  of  doc- 
trine, for  3^oung  or  oUl,  are  then  brought  into  requi- 
sition. If  tiie  inquirer,  perplexed  with  the  varying 
interpretations  of  sects  or  schools,  should  seek  more 
si)ecial  aid,  and  ask,  —  amid  the  many  that  speak,  and 
the  intermingling  of  voices,  — '  How  shall  I  distinguish 
the  voice  of  the  Church?'  an  accepted  answer  long- 
has  been,  that  the  need  was  divinely  provided  for  by 
means  of  the  first  CEcumenical  Council  of  Nicea, 
called  together  under  Constantine,  the  first  Christian 
emperor,  in  the  year  325,  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
formulated  expression  to  the  apostles'  teaching  as  to 
Church  doctrine  and  government,  thus  to  transmit  them 
invested  with  the  authority  pertaining  to  the  one  world- 
wide representative  Christian  assembly  nearest  to  the 
apostolic  age.  During  my  earlier  years  these  sum- 
mary statements  sufficed  to  keep  me  contented  along 
the  line  of  prescribed  duties  without  change  of  rela- 
tions. In  due  time,  however,  I  was  led  to  in(juire 
mure  closely  as  to  the  com[)ositiou  of  that  council,  — 


APPENDICES.  341 

who  they  were,  whence  they  came,  and  what  things 
they  did  in  fact  believe  and  teach.  The  true  answers 
to  those  questions,  you  know  yourself,  no  doubt ;  and 
when  concentrating  my  thoughts  in  that  direction,  it 
became  evident  that  they  believed  and  avowed  the 
very  doctrines  which  we  had  rejected,  such  as  priestly 
absolution,  prayers  for  the  dead,  Purgatory,  and  so 
forth,  what  remained  for  me  but  to  be  true  to  the  fun- 
damental principle  or  guiding  light  of  Church  author- 
ity, and  place  myself  with  the  Roman-Catholic  Church 
as  the  faithful  exponent  of  that  world-wide  representa- 
tive Council  of  Nicea?  " 

To  this  I  replied,  after  a  moment's  musing,  slowly, 
in  accordance  with  his  manner  of  expression  to  me, 
''Well,  well,  that  is  all  very  simple  and  very  logical. 
If  I  had  accepted  your  premise  as  a  basis  of  reasoning 
at  the  starting-point,  — namely,  Church  authority  the 
one  supreme  principle  or  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  — 
I  would  have  accepted  your  conclusion,  and  would 
have  become,  also,  a  Roman  Catholic." 

This  last  turn  of  the  conversation  seemed  to  be  like 
a  fillip  to  the  bishop's  mind,  giving  him  a  fresh  im- 
pulse, and  quickening  him  to  exclaim,  "Yes,  yes  !  I  see, 
I  see !  Our  talk  brings  to  view  the  main  alternative. 
Within  the  area  of  effective  Christian  thinking  there 
are  only  two  positions,  or  '  stand-points,'  that  are  solid, 
or  have  any  kind  of  maintainable  endurance  ;  namely, 
'  the  Bible  alone,'  or  '  Church  authority.'  All  posi- 
tions between  these  two  are  weak,  sandy,  without  any 
consistency  ;  and  from  these  men  must  slide  or  gravi- 


342  LIFE   NOTES. 

tate.  Either  of  tliese,  clearly  conceived,  may  inspire 
enthusiasm,  and  may  become  aggregating  powers. 
The  antithetic  exponents  of  these  two  ideas  must 
ultimately  come  into  closer  conflict,  and  do  more 
than  has  yet  been  done  to  determine  the  great 
historical  issues  of  the  future,  so  far  as  those 
issues  shall  bear  the  impress  and  shaping  of  Chris- 
tianity." 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  Archbishop  Bayley  died  at 
Newark  while  sojourning  in  his  old  diocese  a  few 
days.  The  funeral  celebration  at  Newark  occurred  on 
the  day  set  for  the  funeral  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Clay 
Fish,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  —  the 
service  for  the  archbishop  being  observed  in  the  fore- 
noon, and  that  of  the  Baptist  pastor  in  the  afternoon. 
Great  crowds  visited  both  the  Cathedral  and  the  First 
Church :  and  it  is  noteworthy  that  the  estimates  of 
attending  numbers  tallied ;  namely,  in  each  case  ten 
thousand. 


A   CONFERENCE   IN   ANDOVER   FIFTY  YEARS    AGO.^ 

A  FIXED  impression  of  the  power  of  traditional  the- 
ology was  made  upon  my  mind  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury since,  —  as  far  back,  indeed,  as  1830,  when  I  w^as 
called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in 
Boston,  and  wdien  T  visited  the  Theological  Seminary 
at  Andover,  wdiile  some  of  my  college-mates  were  still 
abidhig  there.  About  eight  o'clock  of  the  evening 
1  Sec  page  IIG. 


APPENDICES.  343 

following  ray  arrival,  while  engaged  in  conversation 
with  one  of  these  in  his  room,  several  of  the  theologi- 
cal students  came  in  separately,  and  were  introduced, 
until  we  had  a  gathering  of  more  than  seven.  Erelong 
one  of  the  new-comers  spoke  up  in  regard  to  a  special 
errand  that  had  interested  them  all  at  once.  In  pur- 
suing their  course  of  class  exercises,  they  had  reached 
the  subject  of  Christian  baptism,  the  study  for  the 
ensuing  day ;  and  they  had  agreed  to  talvc  the  oppor- 
tunity to  ask  from  me  a  statement  of  our  "  distinc- 
tively denominational  position,'*  and  the  grounds  of  it. 
Their  friendly  proposal  was  welcomed  ;  inviting,  as  I 
did,  the  utmost  freedom  in  questioning  or  suggestion. 
After  a  protracted  conversation,  that  touched  all  the 
points  within  their  range  of  view,  I  had  occasion  to 
remark,  "  It  seems  to  me,  dear  friends,  that  you  have 
entered  the  membership  of  your  several  churches  with- 
out having  given  any  attention  to  the  teachings  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles  as  to  the  visible  sacrament 
of  self-dedication,  and  to  have  made  your  profession 
of  Christian  discipleship  without  any  questioning  what- 
soever." To  this  inferential  inquiry  they  freely  an- 
swered all  alike,  —  that  they  had  become  communicants 
and  students  for  the  ministry  without  any  thought  in 
that  direction,  except  what  might  have  come  incident- 
ally in  reciting  the  Catechism. 

Did  this  group  of  theological  students  regard  this 
unified  expression  as  an  exceptional  experience?  Not 
at  all.  They  had  no  feeling  of  exceptionality,  or  of 
failure  in  any  point  of  duty.     All  that  remained  for 


344  Z/i^i5'  NOTES. 

me  to  do  in  that  case  was  the  emphasizing  of  the  words 
of  Jesus  responsive  to  an  inquirer  touching  another 
question;  namely,  "  Wliat  saith  the  Scripture?  How 
readest  thou  ?  ' ' 

Yet  now,  as  ever,  the  pastorates,  too  many  of  the 
Sunday  schools,  and  many  theological  seminaries,  are 
training  ministers  whose  highest  ideal  of  the  ministry 
seems  to  be  that  of  a  skilled  professional  theologizing, 
whose  sustenance  is  theological  formula,  and  whose 
beliefs  rest  upon  no  deeper  foundations  than  those  set 
forth  by  an  eminent  rector  when  commending  his 
advanced  teachings  as  the  conclusions  of  "the  most 
accepted  and  latest  authorities ' '  !  After  the  lapse  of 
more  than  half  a  century,  even  the  Andoverian  teach- 
ing of  Moses  Stuart's  time  (a  name  honored  as  exeget- 
ical  authority  in  the  Germany  of  his  age)  gravitates 
from  the  high  plane  of  a  supernatural  revelation  faith- 
fully interpreted  to  the  lower  level  of  scholarly  intuition 
and  conclusions  of  the  "  Higher  Criticism." 


VI. 

CONTEOVERSIES   AND  THEIR   FRUITAGE.l 

Although  the  first  twenty  years  of  my  earlier 
residence  in  Boston  and  Providence  (1830  to  1850) 
brought  several  occasions  for  employing  tlie  press  in 
controversial  discussions,  it  seems  quite  noteworthy 
that  one  issue  of  these  discussions  was  the  growth  of 
new  relations  of  friendship  between  the  parties  en- 
1  See  page  120. 


APPENDICES.  345 

gaged  in  them.  In  this  direction  memory  emphasizes 
the  qualifying  word  ''new"  as  intimating  the  begin- 
ning of  lasting  friendships  that  became  invested  with 
the  dignity  of  a  confidential  type  of  character,  ex- 
pressed in  seeking  advisory  aid  in  regard  to  things  of 
the  keenest  personal  concern. 

Considering,  for  instance,  the  great  differences  of 
opinion  between  the  Rev.  Nehemiah  Adams,  D.D.,  and 
myself  on  matters  pertaining  to  Church  and  State,  to 
the  relations  of  slavery  and  Christianity,  and  so  forth, 
I  cannot  fail  to  note  the  suggestive  fact,  that,  after  the 
closing  of  public  controversj',  the  spirit  of  his  per- 
sonal communications  indicated  as  much  of  sympa- 
thetic trustfulness  as  could  possibly  pertain  to  any 
kind  of  denominational  unity. 

It  was  about  the  year  1834  that  Dr.  Adams  pub- 
lished his  volume  entitled  "  The  Baptized  Child."  A 
reply  appeared  in  "The  Christian  Review,"  and  this 
was  afterwards  put  forth  by  the  publishers  in  volume 
form.  A  copy  of  this  volume  I  sent  to  Dr.  Adams, 
accompanied  by  a  note,  and  received  from  him  in  re- 
turn a  note  of  thanks  for  the  politeness  thus  ex- 
pressed ;  adding  the  remark,  that  he  would  send  forth 
no  answer  through  the  press  to  the  argumentation  of 
my  book.  Thenceforward,  however,  memory  has 
verified  the  saying,  "  Honest  men  of  strong  convic- 
tions have  strong  mutual  trust,  knowing  icliere  to  find 
each  other ;  and  real  trust  is  the  foundation  of  love." 

This  volume,  responsive  to  that  of  Dr.  Adams,  was 
read  by  Rev.  J.  G.   Oncken  in  Germany  ;    and  in  a 


346  LIFE   NOTES. 

letter  published  in  "The  Watchman"  of  Boston, 
about  twelve  years  ago,  he  spoke  of  it  as  adapted  to 
the  conditioDs  and  needs  of  the  German  miud,  ex- 
pressing earnestlj'  the  wish  that  it  might  be  translated 
into  the  German  language,  and  some  provision  made 
for  the  fulfilling  of  its  proper  mission. 

Now  that  Mr.  Onckeu  has  departed,  and  we  survey 
his  earthly  career  as  a  unit}',  it  is  in  this  connection 
that  the  life-work  of  an  early  friend,  the  Rev.  Barnas 
Sears,  D.D.,  looms  up  as  having  been  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  that  of  Oucken  in  the  Church  history  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Distinguislied  among  the  first 
American  young  men  who  sought  the  opportunity  of 
mastering  the  scholarly  acquisitions  of  the  German 
universities  was  Dr.  Barnas  Sears,  the  honored  grad- 
uate of  Brown  University,  well  remembered  still  by 
many  from  his  twelve  years'  effective  presidency,  until 
called  thence  to  be  the  active  administrator  of  "  the 
Peabody  Fund  "  for  the  promotion  of  school  education 
throughout  the  Southern  States.  As  editor  of  ''The 
Christian  Review,"  as  the  successor  of  Horace 
Mann  in  the  secretaryship  of  the  Massachusetts  Board 
of  Education,  as  author  of  "The  Life  of  Luther" 
and  other  works,  he  is  still  remembered  as  the  expo- 
nent of  a  life-power  that  effectively  impressed  and 
modified  the  history  of  his  generation.  That  this 
American  student  in  Germany  should  have  met  and 
baptized  J.  G.  Onckeu,  from  whose  life-work,  as 
direct  fruitage,  organized  Baptist  churches,  embracing 
scores  of   thousands   that  have   been   thence  onward 


APPENDICES.  347 

extending  their  area  day  by  day  throughout  Northern 
Europe,  is  not  merely  a  fact  of  history,  but  so  won- 
derful as  to  take  rank  with  the  most  unique  of  facts 
pertaining  to  "  the  romance  of  history." 

VII. 

BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINAEIES.^ 

The  Theological  Seminary  at  Hamilton,  Madison 
County,  N.Y.,  sometimes  referred  to  as  pertaining  to 
Madison  University,  was  the  predecessor  of  Newton 
chronologically,  and,  from  the  smallest  of  beginnings, 
has  attained  wonderful  success  in  its  efforts  to  meet  the 
calls  of  widening  missionary  fields  in  the  Old  World. 
In  this  connection  it  may  be  fitly  observed  that  the  men 
who  started  these  Baptist  seminaries  upon  their  career, 
had  no  thought  of  providing  schools  in  the  interest  of 
theology  for  all  comers,  but  mainly  to  qualify  those 
for  higher  and  broader  service  who  would  be  sure  to 
preach,  whether  educated  or  left  to  self-development. 

The  starting-point  of  Hamilton  Theological  Semi- 
nary recalls  "the  day  of  small  things."  A  growing 
academy,  under  the  care  of  Professor  Daniel  Hascall, 
represented  the  beginnings  of  an  educational  and  de- 
nominational interest.  At  that  time  there  were  great 
religious  revivals  throughout  the  western  part  of  New 
York ;  and  connected  with  the  reception  of  this  intel- 
ligence were  signs  of  great  unrest  on  the  part  of 
Mr.  Hascall,  so  exceptional  as  to  attract  the  anxious 

1  See  page  123. 


348  LIFE  NOTES. 

attention  of  his  family.  Mrs.  Hascall,  a  wcll-remera- 
bered  and  excellent  lady,  reached  the  source  of  this 
uneasiness,  so  seriously  interfering  with  his  "taking 
rest  in  sleep,"  when  she  drew  from  him  the  confession 
that  the  trend  of  his  musing  for  days  past  had  been 
toward  the  hosts  of  3'oung  men  who  had  joined  the 
churches,  and  would  certainly  become  preachers^  whether 
educated  or  not.  The  relief  prescribed  at  once  was  a 
journey  westward,  whence,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
weeks,  he  returned,  accompanied  by  a  "  seminary  stu- 
dent," whose  general  appearance  and  first  impression, 
Mrs.  Hascall  said,  were  not  prophetic  of  celebrity,  but 
whose  life-work  in  Asia  it  was  always  to  her  a  great 
cheer  to  rehearse,  while  she  pronounced  so  tenderly 
the  name  of  Jonathan  ^Yade  as  a  quickening  memory. 
This  rustic  lad  became  a  pioneer  student-worker. 

This  historic  fact  loomed  up  significantly  in  the  view 
of  many  when  Mr.  Wade  returned  to  this  countr}'  from 
his  Karen  harvest-fields,  bringing  a  few  of  his  sheaves 
with  him.  Thus  we  were  reminded  of  the  principle 
upon  which  the  aims  of  the  founders  and  first  support- 
ers of  Baptist  theological  seminaries  were  grounded. 
They  had  no  thought  of  furnishing  facilities  for  college 
graduates  without  any  life-aim,  not  knowing  exactly 
what  to  do  with  themselves,  to  enter  upon  a  theological 
course  as  a  relief  from  ennui  or  an  aid  to  literary  ac- 
quisition. In  lands  where  Church  and  State  are  legally 
united,  such  facilities,  of  course,  abound  ;  their  product, 
however,  is  rich  in  hosts  of  theologists,  whose  fields  of 
speculation  are  soon  exhausted,  and  the  issue  is  quiet 
agnosticism. 


APPENDICES.  349 

VIII. 

CAMBKIDGE   CO-WORKERS.^ 

A  PRIME  mover  in  the  presentation  of  this  sacrificial 
offering  to  the  cause  of  temperance  was  a  nephew  of 
the  honored  deacon  ;  namely,  John  Nathaniel  Barbour, 
Esq.,  now  well  known  as  an  octogenarian  resident  of 
Cambridge,  where,  in  company  with  the  late  Hon.  John 
M.  8.  Williams  (once  a  member  of  his  class  in  the 
Sunday  school  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Boston), 
he  has  been  a  co-worker  in  the  membership  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church  of  Cambridge.  More  than  a  half-cen- 
tury ago  the  question  in  regard  to  entering  into  com- 
mercial business  with  his  uncle  was  under  consideration, 
and  the  accei)tance  of  the  partnership  was  determined 
by  that  sacrifice.  As  a  Christian  worker  in  the  brother- 
hood of  the  old  First  Church  he  still  lives,  yielding  the 
fruitage  of  spiritual  youthfulness. 

The  mention  of  this  old  First  Church,  now  known 
as  the  Central-square  Baptist  Church,  brings  to  mind 
the  days  of  student-life  when  I  visited  this  home  centre 
of  many  friends  at  Cambridgeport,  under  the  pastoral 
care  of  the  Rev.  Bel  a  Jacobs,  around  whom  there 
rallied  as  large  an  aggregate  of  effective  workers  as 
could  be  found  in  any  church-gathering  in  Eastern 
Massachusetts.  There  "at  the  right  hand"  of  the 
pastor,  I  might  say,  was  Levi  Farwell,  president  of 
the  bank,  custodian  of  the  college,  thoroughly  trusted, 

1  See  page  144. 


350  LIFE   NOTES. 

loved,  and  honored  b}^  the  whole  community,  carrying 
in  his  countenance  "a  letter  of  credit  to  all  strangers," 
self-interpreting,  and  commanding  confidence.  With 
him  stood  forth  J.  B.  Dana,  deacon  and  treasurer,  a 
kindred  spirit  and  fellow-helper  in  every  way.  I  can 
note  here  only  those  whom  I  knew  at  that  period.  It 
was  then  a  cherished  wish  that  I  might  live  to  see  a 
kindred  assembly  in  Old  Cambridge,  recognized  as 
representative  of  the  same  distinctive  ideas  of  the 
New-Testament  Christianity  as  differentiated  from 
"  Churchianity."  Very  soon,  comparatively,  was  that 
wish  realized.  The  men  and  women  that  led  the  way  of 
the  succeeding  generation  lost  no  time  ;  they,  too,  already 
"  have  a  history,"  and  I  often  read  it  at  a  glance  as  a 
unity  when  passing  their  beautiful  edifice  of  stone,  in 
architectural  harmony  with  its  surroundings.  With  it 
the  generation  to  come  will  associate  the  names  of  mem- 
bers already  departed,  and  others  now  living ;  of  the 
latter  class,  especially,  the  name  of  one  so  sadly  sepa- 
rated from  their  assemblings  of  late  years  by  excep- 
tional sicknesses  added  to  the  touches  of  time,  —  J. 
Warren  Merrill,  an  officer  of  the  church  and  an  ex- 
mayor  of  Cambridge,  whose  record  for  a  third  of  the 
century  exemplifies  a  Christian  life-aim,  steadily  pur- 
sued and  effectively  realized.  Not  only  has  he  been 
missed  from  his  place  in  the  house  of  worship,  but  also 
missed  from  his  seat  with  the  trustees  in  the  corpora- 
tion of  Brown  University. 

This  series  of  personal  reminiscences  pertaining  to 
church-life  in  Cambridge  finds  its   culmination   in   the 


APPENDICES.  ,  351 


ministry  of  the  Rev.  Franklin  Johnson,  D.D.,  whose 
retrospect  of  fifteen  years'  progressive  work  seems 
prophetic  of  spiritual  harvests  yet  to  be  garnered. 


IX. 

HISTORIC   SENSE   OF   RHODE   ISLANDERS.^ 

It  has  been  aptly  said  that  the  State  of  Rhode  Island, 
one  of  "the  old  Thirteen,"  and  ever  the  smallest  of 
the  American  sisterhood,  is  more  thoroughly  pervaded 
by  the  historic  spirit  than  any  other  State  of  the  Union, 
exhibiting,  comparatively,  the  largest  proportion  of  cit- 
izens  impelled   by  their  sympathies   or  aspirations  to 
make  the   study  of   American  history  both  work  and 
recreation.     The  Rhode-Island  Historical  Society  has, 
for  the  greater  part  of  a  century,  drawn  to  its  member- 
ship the   best   native  minds  of    the  State;    and  when 
these  have  gone    forth   to   their  fields   of   action,  the 
world   over,  they  have    carried  with   them    so  largely 
the  home-love,  which,  when  uplifted  by  great  ideas,  is 
a  real  enthusiasm,  that  they  have  become  social  factors, 
awakenmg  in  others   a  historic  sense  that   expressed 
itself  m  various  forms  of  association.     Eminent  among 
these  is  Henry  Thayer  Drowne,  Esq.,  president  of  the 
New- York  Genealogical  and  Biographical  Society,  the 
special  character  of  whose  library  and  the  social  gath- 
erings within  and  around  it,  seem,  at  times,  to  render 
his  home  a  choice  part  of  Rhode  Island  itself  trans- 
ferred to  the  great  metropolis. 

1  See  page  310. 


352  LIFE   NOTES. 

In  this  connection  I  am  reminded  that  the  late 
Hon.  Samuel  G.  Arnold,  remenil)ered  as  lieutenant- 
governor,  United-States  senator,  and  author  of  the 
"  Histor}^  of  Rhode  Island,"  during  the  later  j^ears  of 
his  life  was  president  of  the  Rhode-Island  Historical 
Society  ;  and  I  believe  that,  regarding  it  as  a  place 
of  honor  and  trust,  he  was  more  highly  appreciative  of 
that  position  than  of  any  other  within  his  range  of  view. 
In  the  days  of  his  student-life,  accompanying  him  to 
Europe,  we  bore  a  package  of  papers  (collected  mainly, 
I  think,  by  Professor  Elton)  from  the  Rhode-Island 
Historical  Society  to  the  leading  philosopher  of  that 
time,  Victor  Cousin,  at  Paris.  Our  interview  with  hmi 
occurred  at  his  room  in  ''The  Sorbonne,"  where  he 
received  us  cordially,  and  quite  delighted  us  with  the 
ease,  freedom,  and  earnestness  with  which  he  engaged 
in  conversation  touching  men  and  things  in  America, 
and  particularly  the  men  who  had  translated  or  reviewed 
his  works.  Having  been  acquainted  with  these  men 
personally,  he  was  curiously  interested  in  the  answers 
given  to  his  questionings,  as  we  were  both  interested 
and  amused  with  his  critical  comments  and  incidental 
suggestions. 

The  visit  here  noted  took  place  in  1838,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  a  ten-months'  tour  over  the  Continent,  just 
touching  Asia  opposite  Constantinople,  and  returning 
with  the  first  passengers  that  ever  came  iq)  the  Danube, 
—  Austria  having  just  now  established  steam-naviga- 
tion. I  went  abroad  again,  thirty-seven  years  after- 
ward (1875)  without  his  or  any  companionship,  entirely 


APPENDICES.  353 

alone,  yet  finding  occasion  often  to  write  his  name  in 
my  journal  in  connection  with  the  many  reminders  of  my 
early  European  travels,  which  began  in  France,  and 
ended  in  England.  The  last  letter  that  I  wrote  him 
in  that  connection  pertained  to  London  and  the  library 
of  the  British  Museum,  where  occurred  an  incident 
that  interested  us,  illustrating  the  perfectness  attained 
in  the  world-wide  working  of  that  grand  establishment. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Bevan  of  the  Tabernacle  Church  was 
just  then  (1876)  engaged  in  writing  a  lecture  on  Roger 
Williams.  Having  heard  that  I,  as  a  successor  in  the 
ministry  of  the  first  Baptist  Church  in  Providence,  had 
delivered  a  discourse  called  forth  by  the  second  centen- 
nial anniversary  of  that  church,  he  sought  from  me  the 
loan  of  a  copy.  Having  no  copy  of  the  volume  with 
me,  I  said  to  Dr.  Bevan  that  I  would  look  for  one  at 
the  British  Museum.  To  my  surprise,  I  found  there 
two  copies  —  a  first  and  second  issue  —  (one  without 
a  table  of  contents,  the  other  with  it),  and  also  my 
name  entered  upon  the  catalogue  fifteen  times,  in  sev- 
eral instances  connected  with  pamphlets  of  local  interest 
that  I  had  forgotten.  Referring  to  this  incident  after- 
wards. Governor  Arnold  seemed  to  be  somewhat  amused 
with  the  uniqueness  of  my  position,  —  amazed  to  find 
myself  dependent  upon  the  British  Museum  for  a  list  of 
the  titles  distinguishing  my  printed  works ;  and  we 
joined  in  the  utterance  of  the  sentiment  that  in  some 
things  pertaining  to  a  matured  civilization  England  is 
unmatched,  and  that  yet  a  young  American  English- 
speaking    nationality    may    aid    England    in    realizing 


354  Z/i^i^"   NOTES. 

the  supreme  ideal  that  is  yet  to  unify,  relatively,  the 
Eugiish-speaking  world.  And  now  it  seems  almost 
bewildering  to  say  that  it  is  nearly  a  half-century  since, 
in  company  with  Senator  Arnold,  I  visited  the  substan- 
tial old  church  that  had  known  only  two  pastors  for 
a  hundred  years;  namely,  Rev.  John  Gill,  D.D.,  and 
the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Rippon,  both  widely  known  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic,  —  the  one  by  his  commentaries, 
chiefly  valuable  for  their  citations  of  Hebrew  Rabbin- 
ical literature,  illustrating  to  the  exegete  usages  of 
speech ;  the  other  by  the  improvement  of  worship 
through  a  hymn  collection,  published  in  immense  edi- 
tions. At  that  time  this  historic  church  was  relatively 
declining,  the  family-life  having  drifted  away  from  its 
surroundings  ;  but  the  old  homestead  was  soon  crowded 
after  young  Mr.  Spurgeon  had  begun  his  ministry 
there.  Erelong,  however,  it  was  evolved  into  what  is 
now  known  as  Spurgeon's  Tabernacle,  within  whose 
walls  the  men  of  every  class,  the  highest  and  the  low- 
est, have  been  wont  to  gather  and  listen  to  a  gospel 
that  implied  a  unity  of  humanity  by  its  appealing  to 
rich  and  poor,  peer  and  beggar,  young  and  old  alike, 
It  is  a  mighty  centre  of  influence,  holding  its  own  in 
the  heart  of  Christendom. 

Thirty-eight  years  from  the  time  above  noted,  I 
visited  (1875-76)  the  scene  of  his  nearly  finished  life- 
work,  happily  arriving  there  just  before  the  opening  of 
the  week  set  for  the  assembling  of  his  young  preach- 
ers—  the  graduates  of  his  college  from  all  parts  of 
Great  Britain  —  to  collate  facts,  compare  notes,  discuss 


A  PPENDICES.  355 

the  rising  questions,  sum  up  and  report  the  doings  of 
the  3'ear.  Toward  the  close  of  the  programme,  Mr. 
Spuroeon  called  upon  me  to  address  his  students  and 
3'ouug  preachers.  I  accepted  the  invitation.  It  was 
to  me,  indeed,  a  great  cheer  to  look  upon  that  body  of 
young  men  before  me,  joyous  with  overtlowing  life, 
breaking  forth  irrepressibly  into  responsive  acclamation. 
At  the  close  Mr.  Spurgeon  put  in  a  little  commenda- 
tory epilogue,  infonning  them  at  the  start  that  in  a 
Western- American  State,  old  Kentucky,  it  was  among 
the  usages  of  commendatory  talk  to  speak  of  a  man 
who  had  been  identified  with  a  cause,  political  or  other- 
wise, that  had  needed  and  received  bold  and  persistent 
defence  year  after  year,  as  "The  Old  Hoss  ;  "  and  then 
expressed  his  pleasure  in  having  brought  before  them 
one  whom  he  had  recognized  in  times  past  as  "The 
Old  Hoss"  of  the  Baptist  cause  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Atlantic,  east  and  west ;  proceeding  at  the  same 
time  to  quote  Job  xxxix.  21,  and  enlarge  on  the  image 
of  the  war-horse  in  nis  own  peculiar  way.  Of  course 
"  Mr.  Spurgeon's  boys  "  were  quickly  sensitive  to  any 
poetic  turn  like  this;  and  the  reverberations  of  their 
response  seemed  to  make  even  the  walls  vocal,  and  to 
recruit  the  very  air  electrically.  Clearly,  all  had  a 
good  time  ;  yet  cherished  memories  inspired  the  wish 
that  the  companion  of  my  former  visit  to  London  could 
have  been  there  to  enjoy  the  occasion  sympathetically, 
and  to  have  given  its  record  place  in  the  diary  that  he 
was  wont  to  keep  with  such  faithful  persistency. 


I]N^DEX. 


Abbe,  Mr.,  289. 

Adams,  Charles  F.,  19. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  ex-Presi- 
dent, 19,  1G2,  1G3,  164. 

Adams,  Eev.  Nehemiali,  345. 

Aikiu,  Rev.  Dr.,  102,  133. 

Albany,  N.Y.,  262,  269. 

Alexander,  Rev.  Dr.  Archibald, 
117. 

Allaire,  Alexander,  6. 

American  tariff,  97. 

Anderson,  Martin  B.,  303. 

Andover  Conference,  342-344. 

Anthon,  Professor  Charles, 
LL.D.,  89. 

Arnold,  Hon.  Samuel  G.,  215, 
352,  353,  354,  355. 

Arnold,  Gen.,  75. 

Baldwin,     Thomas,     Rev. 

Dr.,  201,  206. 
Bancroft,  George,  200,  201,  320. 
Baptist  Church,  Utica,  129. 
Barbour,  John  N.,  349. 
Barnes,  Daniel  H.,  LL.  D.,  58, 59. 
Bartow,  Bernabue,  70. 
Bartow,  Rev.  Theodosius,  2. 
Battin,  Joseph,  250. 
Bayley,  Anne,  22,  31. 
Bayley,   James    Roosevelt,    29, 

335-342. 
Bayley,  Mrs.  Joseph,  91. 
Bayley,  Dr.  Richard,  28. 


Bayley,  Capt.  William,  2,  22. 
Beebe,     Hon.    Alexander    M., 

129,  130. 
Beecher,  Rev.  Dr.  Lyman,  120, 

140,  141,  142,  143,  153,  249. 
Bennett,  Cephas,  131. 
Bevan,  Rev.  Dr.,  353. 
Beslie,  Mary,  12,  13,  14. 
Beslie,  Dr.  Oliver,  12. 
Beth  una,  Rev.  George  W.,  DD., 

134. 
Bishop,  Nathan,  303. 
Boleyn,  Queen  Anne,  96. 
Bolles,  Lucius,  D.D.,  125. 
Bolton,  Mr.,  9. 
Boston,  15,  19,  197. 
Breda,  Holland,  9,  11. 
Bridgman,  Rev.  DeWitt  C,  290. 
Bright,  Edward,  jun.,  129,  130, 

131. 
British  Museum,  353. 
Brougham,  Lord,  156. 
Brown,  Hon.  Nicholas,  217,  218. 
Brown,  John  Carter,  218. 
Buchanan,    President    James, 

280. 
Burr,  Col.  Aaron,  65,  66,  67,  68, 

72, 73, 74,  76, 77,  81,  82,  83,  85, 86. 

Caldwell,  Rev.  Dr.,  i85. 

Carlyle,  Mrs.  Jane,  189. 
Carlyle,   Thomas,   80,   176,  201, 
230. 

357 


35' 


IXDEX 


Carey,  Rev.  Dr.,  02,  63,  124. 
Carter  &  Hendee,  321. 
Caswell,  Alexis,  219. 
Chadwick,   Hou.  David,  M.P., 

300,  301. 
Channing,  Dr.,  140, 102,  103,  182, 

227,  311. 
Charles  II.,  11,  199. 
Chase,  Professor  Irah,  121,  123, 

219. 
Chase,  Secretary  S.  P.,  280. 
Child  memories,  3. 
Choules,    Rev.  Jolin  O.,  D.D,, 

198,  214,  248,  331-334. 
Clarke,    Dr.    James   Freeman, 

232,  233,  235,  329,  330. 
Clay,  Henry,  272. 
Cleghorn,  Rev.  A.,  D.D.,  133. 
Clinton,  DeWitt,  98. 
Clinton,  George  W.,  107. 
Cobb,  Nathaniel  R.,  121. 
Codman,  Rev.  John,  D.D.,  139, 

142. 
Colby  University,  211. 
Coleridge,  Lord  Chief  Justice, 

210. 
Coles,  Dr.  Abraham,  260. 
Colgate,  Miss  Sarah,  279. 
Columbia  College,  99,  203. 
Colver,  Dr.  Nathaniel,  231. 
Cone,  Rev.  Dr.  Spencer  H.,  116, 

121. 
Converse,  James  W.,  248. 
Corey,  Rev.  D.  G.,  D.D.,  135. 
Cousin,  Victor,  352. 
Cox,     Rev.    Samuel     Hanson, 

D.D.,  40. 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  9,  80,  201. 
Cummings,  Rev.  Dr.  E.  E.,  253. 
Cunningham,  Richard,  08,  09. 
Cushman,  Dr.  Robert  W.,  231. 
Custis,  Mr.,  152. 


Dana,  j  b.,  350. 

Davies,  John  M.,  251. 

Davis,  Rev.  Henry,  D.D.,  102. 

Dawson,  George,  207. 

De  Lima,  Isaac  A.,  00. 

"  Dial,  The,"  183,  184,  187. 

Diell,  John,  113. 

Drowne,  Henry  Thayer,  351. 

Durant,  Clark,  282,  283. 

D wight,  Harrison  G.  O.,  113. 

Eddy,  Rev.  Dr.  D.  C,  200. 

Edict  of  Nantes,  0. 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  72. 

Elder,  Rev.  Joseph  F.,  D.D.,  290. 

Elting,  Rev.  Dr.  Wilhelmus, 
91,  92,  93,  95. 

Elton,  Romeo,  D.D.,  202,  219, 
352. 

Emerson,  Ralph  ^\''aldo,  145, 
140,  170,  173,  174,  170,  178,  179, 
180,  181,  182,  183,  185,  180,  187, 
188,  189,  190,  191,  192,  193,  230, 
234,  307,  308,  309,  310,  312,  315, 
310. 

Erie  Canal,  98, 102. 

Everett,  Hon.  Alexander  H., 
149,  152. 

Everett,  Edward,  137,  157. 

FANEUIL,  Andrew,  16. 
Faneuil,  Benjamin,  17. 
FaneuilHall,  15,  18,19. 
Faneuil,  Peter,  17,  20. 
Fawcett,  Mrs.,  301. 
First  exiles  from  France,  5,  6. 
Fish,  Rev.  Henry  Clay,  255,  250, 

258. 
Fisk,  Harvey,  113. 
Fletcher,  Hon.  Richard,  225. 
Ford,       Mr.,        publisher       of 

"  Youth's  Companion,"  24G. 


INDEX. 


359 


Foster,  John,  214,  215. 

Fourier,  Charles,  183. 

Fox,  Caroline,  188. 

Francis,  ex-Gov.,  218. 

French  Church,  2. 

Fuller,  Andrew.  120. 

Fuller,  ]SIargaret,  183,  184,  221, 

312,  314. 
Fulton,    Rev.    Dr.    Justin    D., 

154,  267. 

GAMMELL,    Professor  '  Wil- 

ham,  LLD.,202,  219. 
Gannett,  Dr.  Ezra  S.,  140,  182, 

227,  229,  232. 
Gano,  Rev.  Dr.  Stephen,  125, 211. 
Garfield,  President,  108. 
Garrison,   William  Lloyd,   151, 

152,  153,  154,  158. 
Georgetown  College,  Ky.,  135, 

13G. 
Gifford,  Rev.  O.  P.,  206 
Gilbert,  Joshua,  49,  50. 
Gilbert,  Timothy,  154. 
Gill,  Rev.  John,  D.D.,  354. 
Goddard,  Professor  William  G., 

214. 
Gordon,  Rev  Dr.  A.  J.,  243. 
Gould,  Dr.  Augustus  A..  60. 
Gould,  Charles  D.,  224. 
Gould,  Kendall,  &  Lincoln,  238, 

325. 
Gray,  Rev.  Mr.,  168. 
Griffith,  Thomas,  279. 
Griscom,  Professor,  58, 
Grosevnor,  Cyrus  Pitt,  138. 

Hague,  Capt.  James,  24,  34, 

63,  68,  90. 
Hamilton  College,  99,  110 
Harkness,  Profe.ssor,  219. 
TTarper,  Hon.  James,  303. 


Harris,  President,  89. 

Hascall,  Professor  Daniel,  347, 

348 
Hawes,  nee  Catharine  Bartow, 

81,  82. 
Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  323. 
Hayne,  Gen.  Robert  Y.,  157. 
Henderson,   Alexander  Bamp- 

field,  21,  23. 
Henderson,  William,  24,  25. 
Henderson's  Island,  21,  25 
Henry  VIII.,  97. 
Hillard,  George  S.,  159,  160. 
Hinton,  John  Howard,  150. 
Hobart,  Rev.  John  Henry,  31, 
Hodge,  Rev.  Dr.  Charles,  118. 
Holloway  College,  306,  307. 
Holloway,    Professor    Thomas, 

300,  301,  302,  304,  305,  306. 
Holmes,  Dr.   Oliver    Wendell, 

307,  308,  309,  311,  313,  314,  315, 

316,  319,  320,  321. 
Hopkins,  President  Mark,  109. 
Howe,  Rev.  William,  167. 
Humphrey,  Hon.  Friend,  262. 
Hunter,  Des  Brosses,  27. 
Hunter,  Hon.  John,  27. 
Hunter's  Island,  4. 

Irving,  Washington,  12,  56. 
Ives,  Mr^.  Hope,  219. 

Jackson,  President  Andrew, 

148. 
Jacobs,  Rev.  Bela,  349. 
James  of  York,  King,  7. 
Jay,  John,  12. 
Jay,  Hon.  Peter  A.,  48. 
Jefferson,  President  Thomas,  65. 
Jewett,  Professor  :Milo  P.,  299. 
Johnson,  Rev.  Franklin,  D.D., 

351. 


36o 


INDEX. 


Jutlson,  Adoniram,  04,  321. 
Judson,  Mrs.  Ann  Hasseltine, 
202. 

KEELER,  Mr.,  42,  43. 
Kelly,  Robert,  51,  52,  53. 
Kelly,  William,  51. 
Kingsley,  diaries,  304. 
Kinney,  Hon.  Thomas,  260. 
Kinney,  Thomas,  jun.,  260. 
Kirk,  Dr.  Edward  N.,  230. 
Kirkland,  Mrs.  Caroline  M.,  106. 
Kirkland,  ^Villiam,  103,  105. 
Knowles,  Rev.  James  D.,  201, 
202,  203,  206. 

Lane  Seminary,  142. 
Leconte,  Susanne,  28. 
Leisler,  Jacob,  6. 
Lincoln,    President    Abraham, 

281. 
Lincoln  &  Edmands,  120,  326. 
Lincoln,  Rev.  Heman,  207,  219, 

238. 
Long  Lsland  Sound,  4. 
Loring,  James,  143,  325. 
Lovell,  John,  18. 
Lyell,  Sir  Charles,  59. 

MACAULAY,  Lord,  13. 
Macwhinney,     Rev.     William, 

295. 
Mahan,  Asa,  113. 
Malcom,  Rev.  Dr.  Howard,  151, 

226,  238. 
Marcy,  Secretary  William  L., 

264,  271,  274. 
Marshman,  Rev.  Dr.,  62. 
Mason,  Francis,  124. 
Mason,  Rev.  John  Mitchell,  32. 
McWhorter,  Rev.  Dr.,  130. 
Merrill,  Hon.  J.  Warren,  350. 


Milbank,  Mr.,  283,  287. 
Mill,  John  Stuart,  112,  192. 
Miller,  Rev.  Samuel,  DD.,  117, 

120. 
Mitchell,  Samuel  L.,  LL.D.,  57, 

58,  100. 
Monteith,  Professor  John,  107. 
Montgomery,  Rev.  Dr.,  288. 
Moore,  Mr.  (of  London),  156. 
Morris,  Gouverneur,  12. 
Mott,  Dr.  Valentine,  60. 
Muller,  Max,  191. 

NEALE,  Rev.  Dr.  Rollin  H., 

206,  231. 
Nevin,  Tutor,  120. 
Newark,  259. 
"Newark    Daily   Advertiser," 

260. 
New  Rochelle,  1,  5,  6,  13,  27,  34. 
Newton  Theological  Seminary, 

122,  124. 
New  York,  13,  98. 
Nott,  Rev.  Dr.  Eliphalet,  270, 

271. 
Noyes,  Dr.,  107. 

O'CONNELL,  Daniel,  156. 
Olmstead,    Rev.  Dr.  John  W., 

244,  247,  294. 
Oucken,  J.  G.,  345,  346. 

Parker,  Theodore,  227,  239, 

240. 
Parker,  Rev.  Dr.,  185. 
Parkerism,  226. 
Parton,  James,  65,  85,  86. 
Pattison,  Rev.  Robert  Everett, 

D.D.,  211. 
Patton,   Rev.  Dr.  A.  S.,   D.D., 

135,  307,  314. 
Pelham,  1,  4,  5,  13,  27,  28,  34,  37. 


INDEX. 


361 


Pell,  Rev.  John,  8,  9,  10. 

Pell,  Lord  John,  1,  7,  10,  11. 

Pell,  Sarah,  2. 

Pell,  Thomas,  1,  7,  13. 

Perrine,  Rev.  Dr.,  40. 

Phillips,  Wendell,  158. 

Pierce,   ex-President  Franklin, 

.323. 
Pitman,  Judge,  162. 
Plymouth,  197. 
Pond,  Moses,  144. 
Post,  Mrs.  Dr.  Wright,  30. 
Pressense,  Rev.  Dr.,  186. 
Prevost,  Theodosia,  83. 

RATHBONE,  Gen.  John  F., 
265. 

Raymond,  Rev.  John  H.,  LL.D., 
302. 

"Register,  The  Christian,"  319. 

"Review,  The  Christian,"  203. 

Rhode  Island  Historical  Socie- 
ty, 351,  352. 

Rice,  Rev.  Luther,  64. 

Richards,  Abraham,  42. 

Ripley,  Professor  Henry  J., 
121.^ 

Rippon,  Rev.  Dr.  John,  354. 

Robinson,  Dr.  Edward,  109. 

Rogers,  Mrs.  Dr.  Alexander 
W.,  34. 

Roosevelt,  Elbert,  23. 

Roscoe,  William,  barker  and 
author,  53. 


Salem,  i^.Vi  \  \>  \>   \^; 

Schuyler,  PhlliV,  12. ^      "'  '  '- 
Scott,  Sir  Walter,  ff/.^^  y.     /^ 
Sears,  Rev.  Barn=:is;  r).T>/,  Wh\ 
Seton,  Eliza  Aiin  Bdyley,'  'J8.    ' 
Seton,  William,  30. 


Seymour,  Rev.  Dr.,  168. 
Sharp,  Mrs.  Ann  Cauld well,  298. 
Sharp,  Dr.  Daniel,  231,  250,  292, 

293,  297. 
Sheldon,  Smith,  .303. 
Shipley,  Simon  G.,  168. 
Simpson,  Hon.  John  K.,  148. 
Smith,  Charles  C,  16. 
Smith,  Dr.  J.  V.  C,  152. 
Smith,  Rev.  Dr.  S.  F.,  293. 
Snow,  Dr.  (author),  143. 
Snow,  Prince,  143. 
Sj)rague,  Rev.  Dr.  William  B., 

268. 
Spring,  Rev.  Dr.,  68. 
Spurgeon,  Rev.  C.  H.,  ,354,  .355. 
Stanley,  Dean,  109,  303,  304,  309. 
Sterne,  79. 
Stillman,   Rev.    Samuel,   D.D., 

1.37,  138,  139,  143. 
Stockbridge,  Rev.  Dr.,  293. 
Stone,  Col.  William  L.,  98. 
Story,  Judge,  162,  199,  200,  311, 

320. 
Stow,  Rev.  Baron,  203,  204,  205, 

231,  242. 
Stowe,  Phineas,  169. 
Strong,     Professor     Theodore, 

LL.D.,  106. 
Stuart,  Professor,  120. 
Sullivan,  Deacon  John,  143. 
Sumner,  Hon.  Charles,  158,  159, 

160,  161,  162,  163,  164,  165. 

Taylor,  Father,  i69. 

Thompaon,   Hon.   George,   154, 

155,  15o. 
Thoreau,  Henry  D.,  187. 
Tickiior  &  Fields,  320. 
Ticknor,  Mr  ,  320,  .321,  322. 
Iriuity  Church,  New  Rochelle, 

2. 


36: 


INDEX. 


Trinity     College,     Cambridge' 

England,  8. 
Tuckermau,  Rev.   Dr.  Joseph, 

1G8. 

UPHAM,  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  W., 

198,  l!)i>,  319. 
Urann,  Deacon,  144. 

Van  BUREN,  President  Mar- 
tin, 130,264,272. 

Vanderpool,  Jacob,  279. 

Vassar  College,  52, 298,  299,  300, 
303,  305. 

Vassar,  Matthew,  G3,  299. 

Vinton,  Dr.  Alexander  H.,  231, 
239. 

Voltaire,  78,  79. 

Wade,  Jonathan,  348. 
Walsh,  John,  45,  91. 
Ward,  Rev.  Dr.,  62. 
Wardlaw,  Dr.,  128. 
Ware,  Rev.  Henry,  jun.,  170, 171. 
Washington,  Judge,  152. 
Waterman,  Rev.  Dr.,  168. 
Wayland,    President    Francis, 

127,  128,  138,  144,  200,  213,  214 

218,  223,  324. 


Webster,  Daniel,  5,  105, 157, 158, 

1(35,  246. 
Welch,  Rev.  Dr.  Bartholomew 

T.,  132,  262,  263,  265,  266,  268, 

271. 
Weston,  Rev.  Dr.,  283,  292. 
Wheaton,  Eber,  44. 
William?  College,  109. 
Williams,  Rev.  John,  48,  61,  62, 

64,  116. 
Williams,  Hon.  John  M.  S.,  327- 

329,  349. 
Williams,  Roger,   34,  209,  210, 

198,  199,  200,  201,  222,  310,  31<), 

353. 
Williams,   William   R.,  47,   48, 

51,  54. 
Wilson,    Daniel    M.,    251,   253, 

255. 
Winchell,  Rev.  James  M.,  138. 
Winslow,  Father,  144. 
Witherspoon,  Dr.,  79. 
Withington,  John,  63. 
Woods,  Professor  Alva,  219. 
Wyckoff,  Peter,  41. 
Wyckoff,  Rev.  Mr.,  41,  42,  44. 

ZABRISKIE,  Simeon,  91. 


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